Trieste, Italy’s outpost on the eastern side of the Adriatic, once had an extensive tram network, but since 1970 it’s had only a single route, but that one is unique: it’s both a tram and a funicular.
The tram, whose cars date to the 1930s, boards at Piazza Oberdan in the city center; it’s the only stop before it starts to climb the hills that surround the city on its way to hilltop Opicina.
Right off the square, there’s a turn onto a sloping street, followed by an even more sloping street, where we stop so the tram can be attached to the tug, a blocky device sitting on the rails.
At the bottom of the picture, you can see the cable that is attached to the tug and runs through the channel between the tracks. The cable runs up the hill to the top of the steepest part of the route, around a pulley and back down, anchored by the other tug. Essentially, an independent funicular whose cars just happen to carry a tramcar with them.
For this part of the run, the tramway is on its own right-of-way, although there are a number of crossings and station stops along it.
Once it’s reached the top of the hill, it moves ahead, free of the tug, and runs along the edge of a highway until it reaches its final stop at Opicina, officially part of the city of Trieste, but closer to the Slovenian border than to the city center. In fact, Slovenian is the most common language in Opicina.
Like about half of my fellow passengers, I was ready for an immediate ride down, but this time I managed to grab a spot at the front of the tram for a better view and pictures—although I managed to find myself behind the blue-tinted inner windshield most of the way.
On the downhill journey, there were views of Trieste that made the journey worthwhile even if you’re not the transit geek I am.
It was also an opportunity for more views of the line itself and its equipment.
And, after a while, as we approached the steep part of the route, another meeting with the tug for our descent back to Piazza Oberdan.
The tram was first built in 1901; it was for many years the only transport to Opicina. It managed to survive two World Wars and the replacement of the city’s other trams with buses, but nearly ran out of luck with an accident in 2016 that closed the line until 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024—those were all the dates for a planned re-opening. But it’s been back on track since February of this year and as busy as ever.
A worthy survivor!
