A cable railway is a railway that uses a cable traction to haul trains.

There are a few distinct forms of cable railway:

• Cable car systems for mass transit of passengers with cars, that can be detached from the cable
• Funicular railways, where the two cars (or trains) are permanently attached to a single cable, counterbalancing each other
• Inclined elevators, with one or two inclined tracks, each with its own car. In the later case unlike funiculars there is no counterbalance between the cars, they move independently of each other
• Some automated people mover systems (APM) are propelled by cable traction
• Steeply-graded cable railways, used for freight.