UBS Polybahn

This guide to the UBS Polybahn in Zurich opens on a silent morning in 1976, when the little funicular that had hauled students and clerks up from Limmatquai since 1889 simply stopped running, its owners out of money. It traces the line back to its water-powered beginnings and its switch to electricity in 1897, and the mounting debts that fares alone could never cover a century later. You'll hear who stepped in to keep it climbing, and what changed on the tracks it now runs on. Listen for the click of the cable as the red car eases into its berth.