Uphill Metro

Here is something you don’t see everyday (unless you live in Israel of course). In the city of Haifa in Israel you can find the only subway system in Israel - and it’s a pretty complicated one since it is capable of going uphill. I like it maybe because I live a sheltered life but I’ve never been more surprised by a public transport system than when I came across this little beauty. It’s called the Carmelit, it runs underground in the citry of Haifa, Israel and it’s the country’s only subway system. Due to the city being located on the side of Mount Carmel, the entire single track ‘funicular’ system has been designed to accommodate the incline, hence the strange stepped stations and diagonal trains. I’m told they’re more common at ski resorts which would maybe explain why I’ve never seen one before.

Either way, it’s quirky and it’s brilliant.

Because much of Haifa is built on top of the Mt Carmel, the Carmelit (named after this mountain) is an underground funicular that goes up and down the mountain. The altitude difference between the first and last stations is 274 meters.) Carmelit cars have a slanted design, with steps within each car and on the station platform. Since the gradient varies along the route, the floor of each car is never quite level, and slopes slightly "uphill" or "downhill" depending on the location. The Carmelit is one of the smallest subways in the world, having only four cars, six stations and a single tunnel 1800 meters long. The four cars operate as two two-car trains, which run on single track with a short double-track section to allow trains to cross.
It is not the smallest subway in the world - the Istanbul Tünel, with two stations and 573 meters long, is smaller. However, since Istanbul also has a newer and bigger (though separate) subway system, the Carmelit is the smallest subway system in the world.