Each system is a true funicular: an inclined railway with two passenger cars connected via cables, operating in concert.

At Cimarosa the Chiaia is connected by an underground tunnel to both Vanvitelli station, on Line 1 of the Naples Metro, and to the Central Funicular.

(IL TEMPO, Roman poet, Lucretius, De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things), Book I, 459).

For the first eleven years of operation, the Chiaia funicular was powered by Escher Wyss steam engines, but in 1900 the line became electrified.

The new twin-electric engines, provided by Brown Boveri & Co, gave 135 horsepower each, and greatly improved efficiency.

Until 1926 it only operated three stops, with the opening of Palazzolo station (Parco Marcolini), delayed due to difficulty in accessing the area in which its construction was planned.

installing new modern electrical controls, and Fitre (later replaced by Holtz) undertaking transmission and safety work.

[1] The refurbished Chiaia funicular reopened to the public on 22 September 1977, although accusations of inadequate engineering works were levelled at the contractors, and these problems were not finally rectified until 2004.