The service will resume from the 16th of March. Maintenance of the funiculars is carried out by Dopravní podnik hl. m. Prahy (The Prague Public Transit Co. Inc.) every spring and autumn, to ensure its safe and reliable operation. The maintenance will include accurate geodetic surveying of each of the elements of the track, track gauges and other important components. Other necessary services will be carried out, such as cleaning the winding chamber, maintenance of touch pads on the carriages and in the terminals, the station gates, the track and station lights, and the magnetic sensors on the track. Further, the roller exchange, drainage, stabilising, repainting, building maintenance and other work will be carried out. The closure period is also used to practice the evacuation of passengers from the carriages and to thoroughly clean the track, stations and wagons.
A brief history of the funicular
The Újezd – Petřín funicular began operating on the 25th of July 1891. Since 1916, the service was interrupted for 16 years. Subsequently, it operated for 30 years until 1965, when extensive landslides destroyed the track. The present funicular has been bringing passengers to Petřín since 1985, when it became part of the Prague Public Transport Network (MHD in Czech). 52 215 680 passengers had used the funicular by the end of 2018. 2017 was a record-breaking year, when the funicular carried 2 065 974 passengers.