ZAGREB FUNICULAR MARKS 110 ANNIVERSARY

ZAGREB FUNICULAR MARKS 110 ANNIVERSARY ZAGREB, Oct 7 (Hina) - The Zagreb funicular - "the old lady", one of the symbols of the Croatian capital, will mark its 110th anniversary on Sunday, October 8. The link between the city's business centre and its historical part, called the Upper Town (Gornji Grad), is a tourist attraction but also an important means of transport. #L# It all started back in 1888 when a builder from Osijek, D.W. Klein, who was visiting Zagreb, happened to visit Bregovita Street (today Tomiceva Street). Standing at the foot of the stairs connecting the city's business centre with the old Upper Town, Klein counted passers-by and concluded that pedestrian traffic was live enough to require the construction of a funicular on the model of Budapest, Zurich and other cities, reads a monograph issued by the Zagreb Electric Transport (ZET). The same year, the enterprising builder submitted to the city authorities his application for a building permit, which the city authorities readily granted after only two days of consideration. On October 8 1890 a two-car steam-power funicular was officially put into operation. After 40 years, the funicular became the property of the City of Zagreb and in 1934 the steam-power engine was replaced with an electrical one. In the meantime, several overhauls were carried out but after 80 years of operation, the old funicular became worn-out and its service was discontinued in 1969. As it became a city symbol, the city authorities did not allow its being put out of operation for good and a new funicular was launched in 1974. If you take the funicular these days, here is some useful information: it has 16 seats and standing room for 12 persons, its highest allowed speed is 1.5 metre per second, the duration of the travel is 55 seconds at a grade of 52 percent and altitude of 30.5 metres. If, on the other hand, you are not a stickler for technical details, here's an anecdote about an old Zagreb gentleman and his travel in the Zagreb funicular. A young man offered the gentleman his seat in the funicular, to which the old gentleman replied: "Young man, you are very kind, but I get off at the next stop." (hina) rml