The line runs from a lower station at the Cape Point car park, up an incline through dense fynbos to the upper lighthouse.

It was the first commercial funicular of its kind in Africa, and takes its name from the legend of the Flying Dutchman ghost ship.

The proposal by Concor to install an electrically powered funicular was accepted as an environmentally friendly and novel means of transport.

It was the first commercial funicular railway of its kind in Africa, and was produced entirely using South African resources.

[1] The cars are named "Nolloth" and "Thomas T. Tucker" after vessels that sank in the area.