Funiculaire Saint-Imier – Mont-Soleil

Funiculaire Saint-Imier – Mont-Soleil is a funicular railway in the Jura Mountains, Switzerland. The line leads from the village of Saint-Imier at 828 m to the station Mont-Soleil at 1179 m,^[1] on Mont Soleil (1291 m). The line of 743 m in length has a difference of elevation of 351 m at a maximum inclination of 60%.^[1]

Funiculaire Saint-Imier - Mont-Soleil
aerial view (1930)
Overview
Other name(s)	Funisolaire; Chemin de fer funiculaire Saint-Imier - Sonnenberg; Funiculaire du Sonnenberg; Sonnenbergbahn
Status	In operation
Owner	Funiculaire Saint-Imier - Mont-Soleil SA
Locale	Saint-Imier, Switzerland
Termini	St-Imier (funiculaire) at Rue des Roches 31 Mont-Soleil (funiculaire)
Stations	2
Website	funisolaire.ch
Service
Type	Funicular
Operator(s)	Funiculaire Saint-Imier - Mont-Soleil SA
Rolling stock	1 for 60 persons (since 2003); 2 (before, for 54 persons in 1969)[1]
History
Opened	10 August 1903 (1903-08-10)[2]
Technical
Line length	743 m (2,438 ft); before 2003: 728 m (2,388 ft)[1]
Number of tracks	1 (before 2003: with passing loop)[1]
Track gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)[1]
Operating speed	5 metres per second (16 ft/s); before 2003: 2.5 metres per second (8.2 ft/s)[1]
Highest elevation	1,179 metres (3,868 ft) (since 2003)[1]
Maximum incline	60% (min. 39%)[1]

Built in 1903^[2] as a single-track line with two cars and a passing loop, the track was lengthened and converted to a single car operation in 2003.^[1] The line includes several bridges and a tunnel.^[1][3]

The base station is ca. 800 m from St-Imier railway station.

The railway is owned and operated by Funiculaire Saint-Imier - Mont-Soleil SA.^[4]

Further reading

• 1903-2003: un siècle d'allers-retours (PDF) (in French), archived from the original (PDF) on 24 June 2019