The history of the Odessa funicular began at the dawn of the twentieth century. In 1900-1902, according to the project of Odessa engineer I.Pyatnitsky, son of the director of Odessa 2nd Gymnasium and a graduate of St. Petersburg Institute of Railway Engineers, a «lifting machine» was built near the stairs on Nikolaevsky (Primorsky) Boulevard. On June 8 (st. st.), 1902 Odessa funicular began its life. Two carriages with the capacity of 35 people each, issued from Paris, connected the upper part of the city with the port.
Odessa funicular was built according to the «classical» scheme — a single-track rail line with a connector. Movement was carried out by the «pendulum» scheme, when the descending car helped the car moving up. In such a form Odessa funicular existed for 67 years, transporting passengers from the boulevard to the port for the invariable 2 kopecks.
Wars interrupted the work of the Odessa funicular. After World War I and the Civil War the funicular did not work since 1919. However, on September 20, 1926 it started working again.
The second break in the work of the funicular fell on the period of the Great Patriotic War. It was only in 1947 that its work was resumed again.
By the mid-60s, the Odessa funicular, although invariably popular among Odessans and guests of the city, nevertheless became dilapidated. The equipment and cars needed replacement, the tracks and pavilions needed repair. The then leadership of the city decided not to spend money on repairing the funicular, but to build an «advanced» mode of transportation — an escalator — in its place. In 1969 the funicular was closed, and in April 1970 the Odessa escalator was opened.
The escalator complex was similar to the Moscow escalator on Leninskie Gory, and the design of the lower pavilion resembled the design of the Soviet pavilion at the EXPO-67 exhibition in Montreal.
Unfortunately, building the escalator was not a great success. The lack of a single-span escalator of the necessary length forced the line to be divided into 4 sections with intermediate platforms, on which retired women sat, whose only duty was to make sure that no one tried to pass in both directions. The fare increased by 50% compared to the funicular and amounted to 3 kopecks. However, this price remained unchanged almost until the end of the escalator’s operation.
Lack of experience in maintenance of escalators in Odessa, as well as difficulties with spare parts, led to the fact that a dozen years after the beginning of operation the escalator began to work only in one direction — 
on the ascent, and the stairs of the opposite direction were used as a source of spare parts. But this situation could not continue indefinitely, and in 1997 the escalator was finally stopped. At the same time it was decided to restore the funicular and in 1998 construction work even began. The change of city authorities changed the priorities and the construction was stopped. Fortunately, what was already built was not destroyed and 7 years later the construction site got a second life.
In 2005 the second life of the funicular reconstruction began. However, the new funicular, strictly speaking, is not a traditional funicular. The new funicular is built on the principle of «inclined elevator», i.e. the cabins move independently of each other on separate tracks. 
The control system and running gear are also «borrowed» from traditional elevators. Also the style design of the upper and lower pavilions has been radically changed, and the funicular’s cabins have received a modern look with an excellent view.
On the City Day — September 2, 2005. — Odessa funicular returned to the service of the city.
Besides the well-known funicular on Primorsky Boulevard, there was another funicular in Odessa, about which little is known. There was a funicular at the Kovalevsky Dacha that connected the summer residence of the Metropolitan of Ukraine with the beach. According to unverified information, this funicular is no longer there, as it was destroyed after a landslide.