Mountain route
Pilatus Railway
Alpnachstad → Pilatus Kulm · Switzerland
The steepest rack railway on Earth: 48 % grades since 1889, with Locher’s horizontal cog wheels gripping a ladder no ordinary train could climb.
How this line was checked
- The 4 km this route shares with OpenStreetMap relation 20678135 is drawn from that relation's own nodes, thinned to within under 25 m of them
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: 90.7% of this line lies within 250 m of real track, a median 5 m from it
- Checked against the running timetable via ÖBB Scotty: our line sits 0.4 km from the shape of Zahnrad
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
Questions and answers
How long is the Pilatus Railway?
The Pilatus Railway runs 5 km from Alpnachstad to Pilatus Kulm.
How long does the Pilatus Railway take?
The fastest scheduled journey is ≈ 30 min for the 5 km. That is an average of 10 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 12 km/h.
Who runs the Pilatus Railway?
Pilatus-Bahnen, with Stadler rack railcars.
How old is the Pilatus Railway?
The line has been in service since 1889. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
How often does the Pilatus Railway run?
17 direct trains on a weekday (counted on 2 September 2026).
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