Two counterbalanced cars built by the Brush Electrical Engineering Company were fixed to the steel cable, guided by pulleys in a conduit.

[1] The line was first inspected by the Board of Trade, represented by Lieutenant-Colonel H A Yorke, on 26 April 1897, with a view to starting service in August of the same year.

[1] It failed the inspection on a number of safety issues:[3] "...any ignorant or mischievous person or child could push the switches over into the wrong position in the face on an approaching car, and might then cause an accident.

[1] At least five people were needed to run the service at any time - a driver and guard on each car, and the engineer controlling the winding mechanism - and with a 1d fare,[3] the passenger receipts had little prospect of ever covering even the wage costs.

[1] On 3 October 1901 the following statement appeared in the Evening Express:It is stated to be the decision of the directors of the Swansea Cliff Railway up Constitution-hill to discontinue the service after this week, the line failing to be renumerative.