funicular railway

funicular railway (plural funicular railways)

1. A cable railway on an incline; especially one which operates on two tracks (or with a passing loop), with a pair of vehicles counterbalancing each other.
   • 2021 January 13, Dr Joseph Brennan, “Spectacular funiculars”, in RAIL, issue 922, page 50:

     Funicular railways take gradients to the extreme, running two cars in counterbalanced, contrary motion over often-perilous cliff inclines. [...] Britain's first funicular railways arrived in Scarborough in the 1870s.

A funicular railway is sometimes contrasted with an incline lift or inclined elevator, which operate with one vehicle on a single track. Informally, however, the distinction is usually contextual, with a funicular railway being perceived as on a larger scale.