**The Fribourg 'funiculaire' with 'Abt switch' in the middle of the track where the two cars pass one another.** Wikimedia / Rufus46

The Fribourg funicular: powered by wastewater

For 125 years, the 'funiculaire' in the city of Fribourg has been running on a particular kind of renewable energy: wastewater. The 'funi', as the heritage-listed railway is known locally, is an important reminder of Fribourg's industrial past.

Thomas Weibel

Thomas Weibel is a journalist and Professor of Media Engineering at the Fachhochschule Graubünden and the Hochschule der Künste in Berne.

It travels at a speed of just over 4km/h, the trip lasts two minutes, and users will look in vain for anything resembling a timetable: the 'funiculaire' trundles back and forth between the upper and lower parts of Fribourg as passenger demand requires. Known affectionately as the 'funi', the cable railway offers passengers a multisensory experience: it rattles and rumbles as it jolts gently along the steep 121-metre track, which has a 54% gradient. And "ça schlingue", as they say in the local dialect: there is a strong smell that can sometimes even be described as a 'stink'. But more of that later.

**The funicular connecting the upper and lower parts of Fribourg, circa 1910.** Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire de Fribourg, Fonds Pro Fribourg/Bourgarel, PRFR

Fribourg is a hilly town. Its highest points are 700 metres above sea level; the Sarine river, on the other hand, traverses the city at an elevation of just 530 metres. So, anyone wanting to make their way from the lower Neuveville part of town to the Saint-Pierre district 56 metres higher up faces something of a climb. At the end of the 19th century, the newly founded university and burgeoning industrial plants caused the city and its population of just 15,000 to expand rapidly, shifting the focus away from the old districts in the lower town. This gave businessman Paul-Alcide Blancpain (1839-1899), owner of the Cardinal brewery situated in the new part of town, the idea of linking the upper and lower areas of the city by rail, thus providing the workforce with easier access to the city centre. The first funicular railway in Switzerland had begun operating in Lausanne in 1877, and so an application was submitted for a similar licence in Fribourg in 1893.

**Lower station of the Fribourg funicular, pre 1912.** Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire de Fribourg, Fonds Collection de cartes postales, CAPO

In Switzerland, the dawn of the industrial era coincided with the expansion of the railway network, initiating something of a transport revolution. The establishment of new industrial enterprises caused the volume of traffic to grow by leaps and bounds. In just 30 years, from 1868 to 1898, the volume of goods being transported increased sixfold to 13.8 million tonnes, while passenger numbers rose tenfold from 9.9 to 98 million trips. Railways were exceedingly efficient, and the cable railways in particular could climb steep ascents over short distances and in short journey times.

And so, in March 1898, the Von Roll ironworks company from Bern began building a railway in Fribourg, designed to use the weight of wastewater from the upper part of town as the source of its motive power. It was connected to the city's sewer system so that 2,700 litres of wastewater could be filled into a tank mounted between the axles of the car standing at the top station. Meanwhile, the second car at the lower station, connected to the first by a sturdy traction cable 2.5 centimetres in diameter running over a pulley system, emptied its tank so that the heavier weight of the upper car was sufficient to convey it and a maximum of 20 passengers up the slope.

**Staff of the funicular railway shortly after its inauguration, circa 1900.** Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire de Fribourg, Fonds Prosper Paul Macherel, PRMA

The fact that a railway used by workers was powered by the effluent of the bourgeoisie carried certain overtones. Swiss author Niklaus Meienberg, for example, wrote in his feature story about Fribourg, the city in which he studied: "In this way, the benevolent residents of the upper town have been allowing their fellow citizens in the 'basse ville' to benefit from their excrement for decades. And this source of energy permits the inhabitants of the lower town to be charged a modest fare that does not stretch their meagre income." The Federal Council gave the go-ahead on 4 February 1899, and the 'funiculaire' rolled into action. The 'funi' cost a total of CHF 140,000 to build. In 1900, its first full year in operation, it carried 174,776 passengers.

**A woman riding on the Fribourg funicular, 1949.** Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire de Fribourg, Fonds Jacques Thévoz, JATH

The 'funiculaire' was a success right from the outset; the operator 'Société du Funiculaire Neuveville-St-Pierre à Fribourg SA' was able to post its first profits after just a few years. The City of Fribourg acquired a controlling interest in the company in 1965, merging it with the town's public transport companies in 1977. But the passage of time had taken its toll on the funicular's mechanical system. The service was repeatedly out of action for lengthy periods, and one of the cars sustained an axle fracture in 1996 prompting the Federal Office of Transport to order a complete overhaul. Given the lack of funds available, the powers that be considered shutting the 'funiculaire' down and replacing it with an inclined lift or a bus service. However, angry protests by the people of Fribourg, keen to preserve this piece of local heritage, caused the city authorities to rethink their position and the railway was restored at a cost of CHF 2 million. The 'funi' began running again on 3 July 1998.

The 'funi' has largely been returned to its original state, the green livery is just as it has always been, and it still runs on filtered wastewater today. However, the gaskets being what they are, a certain odour often lingers in the air. But regardless of the smell, the 'funiculaire' is the last water-ballast funicular in Switzerland and one of the last in the whole of Europe. It has been entered in the Inventory of Cultural Property of National Importance, acts as a tourist attraction – and continues to serve as a reliable mode of transport for those natives of Fribourg who have no desire to make the ascent from the lower town to the upper part of the city on foot.

Report on the continuing popularity of the Fribourg funicular, 2015. Swissinfo

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