Buda Castle Funicular, the historic railway carrying passengers from the bottom of the castle hill to its top, was completed in 1870. The railway, which was the second of its kind in the world after the one in Lion in France, was built at the initiative of count Ödön Széchenyi, the son of count Istvan Széchenyi, who initiated the construction of the Chain bridge. The main reason of its creation, was to provide a faster and easier access to the Castle Theater, and the government offices situated on the top of the castle hill, which could not be reached by any other means of public transport. Its lower terminal was placed near the Chain bridge and the Tunnel, which was a major traffic junction of the horse-drawn tram, and the omnibuses passing through the bridge. The upper terminal is located between the Royal Palace and the Presidential Palace. The originally steam operated cable hauled railway, could carry 20 passengers in each of its two cars, running parallel upwards and downwards on the 95 m long track with a 30 degree angle of inclination, where 50 m difference of altitude had to be surmounted. The funicular was destroyed by a bomb attack in the Second World War, and its remnants were dismantled after the war. It was reopened in 1986 with a modernised engineering. The steam engine had been replaced by electrical drive, and safety spring brakes had been also installed, that can stop the cars in case the cable would be broken. Its original speed was 3 m a second but in 1988 on request of the passengers, it was reduced to its half. The only accident in its history was in 1896, when a group of journalists - who attended a late night ceremony in the castle - wanted to return to the town with the funicular. As it had been already closed, they asked the driver for an extra ride. The driver however - whose working day already finished - passed the job to the stoker who had no driving experience, and could not stop the cars in time, which crashed into the terminal. The passengers had been injured, but fortunately no one died. Buda Castle Funicular, being a dominant feature of the Buda Castle and the Danube riverbanks, has been a UNESCO world heritage site since 1987.

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