The first part runs between Praia Vermelha and Morro da Urca (at 220 metres or 722 feet), from where the second rises to the summit of the 396-metre (1,299 ft) Sugarloaf Mountain.

The cableway was envisioned by the engineer Augusto Ferreira Ramos in 1908 who sought support from well-known figures of Rio's high society to promote its construction.

These included Eduardo Guinles and Raymundo Ottoni de Castro Maya, who were powerful figures with a range of developmental interests in the city,[3] to promote the idea of an electric cable system.

One mechanic aboard, Augusto Goncales, climbed out and slithered down to Urca station and helped to build an emergency car to go back up and rescue the other passengers, 12 women and girls, 6 men and 3 children, in an event which took about 10 hours.

[11] The cable car was the setting for the 1979 James Bond film Moonraker in which British secret agent James Bond (played by actor Roger Moore) battles with his nemesis Jaws (Richard Kiel) in the middle of the tramway, which eventually results in a tramcar with Jaws in it crashing into the ground station and smashing through the wall, although he miraculously survives.

For instance, it appears off in the distance in the Wii version of Need for Speed: Nitro, in one part of the Santa Teresa racing course in Rio de Jainero.

[18] The second part of the line, Morro da Urca to Sugarloaf, has a length of 850 metres (2,790 ft), with a maximum speed of 10 m/s (22 mph; 36 km/h).