What is a funicular railway?

In the news about the recent accident at a ski resort in Austria, the reporters called the cable car that carried the skiers up the mountain a "funicular railway." What is that and how does it work?

File:Funicular Railway (16401269228).jpg - Wikimedia Commons

Train on the Rigi funicular railway, Lake Lucerne available as

Leas Lift, a water and gravity powered funicular railway in

Skarloey Resort Funicular Railway's own David and Gabriel : r

Fløibanen funicular - visitBergen.com

Look out below! Europe's steepest funicular railway has a gradient

Funicular - Wikipedia

TOP 5 MOUNTAIN RAILWAYS Central Switzerland

Water Powered Cable Trains

Highlands funicular railway reopens after four years of setbacks

Funicular Railway by Martin Bond/science Photo Library

4 Fun Facts About Penang Hill's Funicular Train

Funicular Railway - Zagreb: Get the Detail of Funicular Railway on