The funicular is operated by the tramway division of Prague Integrated Transport, the local public transit system.

[1] The line was originally opened in 1891,[2] as a metre-gauge railway with a length of 383 metres (1,257 ft) and water balance propulsion.

The cable car ran all year round, in the winter months and in the mid-1890s only on weekends, because of water freezing up the tracks.

After the war, repairs of the track, buildings and replacement of the tow rope took place mostly before the Spartakiads, when an increase in passenger numbers was expected to rise.

According to Czech legend, the name of the middle station Nebozízek stems from an incident in which a son of Emperor Charles IV, requesting food, was unable to properly pronounce the Czech letter "ř" when he asked for a schnitzel, so instead of "nebo řízek" (meaning, "or schnitzel"), he expressed the word Nebozízek which actually means little gimlet.