The funicular of Montmartre, practical attraction not to be missed

The current funicular of Montmartre is the 3rd since its installation in 1900 and after the renovations of 1935 and 1991. It joins the "Rue Foyatier" at the height of the upper station. You just have to take the street Lamarck on the right, the Parvis du Sacré-Coeur is at about 50 m. The view is superb going up by the funicular. But it is from the Parvis that the view on Paris is the most beautiful.

The 1st funicular of Montmartre: an attraction in 1900

The first funicular of Montmartre was put into service on July 12 or 13, 1900. The system used is simplistic to say the least. But it worked for 35 years. It includes 2 cabins which each float on 2 water tanks of 5 m3 connected by a cable. When the "high" tank and its cabin are at the top, the tank is filled with water. This cabin-tank filled with water goes down by gravity pulling up the 2nd empty cabin-tank, still down but connected to it by a cable and a pulley system. A steam engine located at the lower station activates the pumps that deliver the water to the upper station where the tanks are filled each time they pass. The cabins have a capacity of forty-eight passengers divided into four closed compartments arranged in a staircase, the two end platforms being reserved for the driver (brakeman). They are held by a braking system established on the rack. This system transports one million passengers per year for more than thirty years

1935 and the first renovation after good and loyal services

Electricity made its appearance in the funicular's operation in 1935. The "water funicular" system was replaced by two cabins running on electricity. The operation resumed on February 2, 1935 after more than three years of interruption. The traction of the 2 cabins is ensured by a winch actuated by an electric motor of fifty horsepower, which allows the cabins of a capacity of fifty people to carry out the course in seventy seconds, that is to say a speed of two meters per second or 7 km per hour.

1991: second renovation after 50 years of operation

At the rate of two million passengers transported each year, the funicular had to be thoroughly renovated. Since this last renovation, the funicular uses the technology of an inclined elevator with electric traction. It is therefore no longer a funicular in the true sense of the word. Indeed, it no longer functions according to the traditional alternating movement of the funiculars, one of the cabins going down pulling the other cabin to go up. The new system therefore allows an increased transport capacity. The machinery has remained at the upper station. It consists of two completely independent winches driven by 130 kW motors. This means that one cabin can go up and the other down or be at a standstill, or the 2 cabins can go up or down together. This makes it possible to regulate the number of passengers. The weight of a cabin is six tons when empty and ten tons when fully loaded. They have a service brake, a track brake and an emergency brake.

Automation of the funicular

The operation is now fully automated: the presence and number of passengers are detected by a system consisting of electronic scales located in the floor of the cabins and radars in the stations for the stop in position. A computer then determines the departure of the cabins, indicated to passengers by a display in the cabin. Depending on the density of the passenger flow, the choice is made between two possible speeds of 2 or 3.5 meters per second (7 or 12 km/h). Landing doors open only when the car is present to increase safety, similar to the metro line 14.

The distance transported between the lower and upper stations is 108 m for a difference in height of 36 m.

However, all these precautions did not prevent a gondola from crashing at the bottom of the inclined plane on December 7, 2006, at 5:50 p.m., during a braking test carried out by the RATP operator: the end of the traction cable broke. The interruption of service from then on caused increasing problems for the inhabitants and shopkeepers of the hill, despite the replacement buses. Everything was back in order in June 2007 and August 2008

The funicular or how to go up the Butte Montmartre in the culture

The funicular is an essential "presence" in Paris. It is known by many tourists who have visited Paris and appears in many movies and TV series related to Montmartre. One of the most famous is the movie Ripoux contre ripoux in 1990. But many others take place in Montmartre and its funicular is an essential element: Les Randonneurs (1997), El Tourbini (2006) and Louise (take 2) (1998). For example, in the first pilot episode of the police series Capitaine Casta, a chase takes place in the stairs of the rue Foyatier, parallel to the funicular. Similarly, in the 2009 film Une affaire d'État, Michel Fernandez (Thierry Frémont) flees up the stairs, pursued by Nora Chahyd (Rachida Brakni) who takes the funicular from him.
In 1956, Melville opens his film Bob le flambeur with a bird's eye view of the funicular going down.

In 2011, the animated film Un monstre à Paris, with the voices of Vanessa Paradis and -M- in the main roles, also presents this funicular in an action scene on the occasion of its inauguration. The story takes place during the historic flooding of the Seine in 1910 - when the funicular has been in operation since July 14, 1900.

The Montmartre funicular is also featured in a painting by the painter Jean Marchand (1883-1940), which bears the same name. It is exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris.

The funicular is also present in literature, in a short story by the French writers of detective stories, Pierre Louis Boileau and Pierre Ayraud, known as Thomas Narcejac. Under their "shared" signature Boileau-Narcejac, this novel is called L'énigme du funiculaire, published in 1971.  As for Jacques Charpentreau, in a poem entitled Le funiculaire de Montmartre, he compares the cabins to two contradictory brothers - "When one flies up in the air / The other rushes down / And lan lan la".

The funicular of Montmartre also makes an appearance in the video game Midnight Club II (2003) and in October 2006, at the request of the website la Blogothèque for its "Concerts à emporter", the singer Cali performs in a cabin of the funicular, interpreting in the midst of travelers, the time of an ascent, his song The End of the World for in 10 minutes from his album Menteur.

The funicular is still reproduced, alongside the Sacré-Coeur basilica, in several miniature parks: France Miniature in Élancourt (where it was added to the Sacré-Coeur basilica in a second time) and in Mini-Europe in Brussels.

3 other ways to climb the Butte Montmartre

The funicular has 3 competitors to go up or down the Butte Montmartre:

• On foot: The climb is difficult but the view over Paris is superb: 220 steps to be expected!
• By the "Petits trains" : in fact, there are 2 competitors
• By the RATP bus (which manages all the buses in Paris)

To know more about it click on "How to go up on the Butte Montmartre, without getting tired".