The funicular Châtelard - Les Montuires was built in 1920 to carry heavy materials for the Barberine dam erected by the CFF (Chemins de Fers Fédéreaux) near the french border between Chamonix (France) and Martigny (Switzerland) in the canton of Valais.

In 1935 the funicular was opened to the public and closed in 1968.
Trains Touristiques d'Emosson SA was created in 1974 to save the funicular from the destruction.
The funicular reopened in 1975 and the Petit Train Panoramique d'Emosson opened the same year.
In June 2014, the municipality of Finhaut took control of Amusement Park "Parc d'Attractions du Châtelard VS" and created "VerticAlp Emosson" to renovate the funicular.
The funicular Châtelard -Château d'eau was completely renovated in 2015.

It is composed of:
- the funicular Châtelard - Les Montuires,
- the Petit Train Panoramique d'Emosson (which is a 60 cm gauge train),
- Minifunic d'Emosson (which is a small funicular which brings the tourists from the end of the train at the bottom of the dam up to the Emosson lake).

The funicular Châtelard - Les Montuires is one of the steepest funiculars of Switzerland (maximum gradient of 87%).