Babbacombe Cliff Railway

Planned since 1890 and finally built in 1926, the Babbacombe Cliff Railway took 2 years to construct and was the brainchild of two prominent Victorians and involved some of the biggest engineering names of the day. To read a full history and see some fascinating period photographs, please go to our History page here.

Funicular railways are a simple concept yet need some clever technology to operate. After all, this railway track is nearly 720 feet long and the cars descend at up to 500 feet per minute – operating practically all year round and regularly carrying 100,000 people per year places demands on all the mechanisms involved. Please see our Technology page here for a full explanation.

By turns publicly and privately run, the Babbacombe Cliff Railway has been run by a specially-formed Community Interest Company since 2009. To find out more about the organisation and how it works, please visit our Community Interest Company page here.

Over the years, the Cliff Railway has been through several renovation projects, not least to re-commission the railway after being closed for the duration of the Second World War. Luckily for railway aficionados, the most recent renovation project was extensively documented and we have a wealth of pictures on our Renovation page here.