Mountain route
Schneebergbahn
Puchberg → Hochschneeberg · Austria
View on the map →Wikipedia ↗Stations · 5
Austria’s highest railway: the red Salamander cog train grinds 1,200 vertical metres from Puchberg to the Hochschneeberg terminus at 1,795 m, the Alps’ balcony over the Vienna basin.
Opened in 1897, the Schneebergbahn is the highest railway in Austria and one of the last steam-worked rack lines in the country. Its diesel Salamander railcars (and, on special days, the original 1890s steam locomotives) climb from Puchberg through the Baumgartner and Hengsthütte halts to the Hochschneeberg station at 1,795 m. From the terminus a short walk reaches the Fischerhütte below the 2,076 m summit, the nearest high Alp to Vienna.
Stations
- 0 kmPuchberg am Schneeberg
- 1 kmHengsttal
- 4 kmHengsthütte
- 7 kmBaumgartner
- 10 kmHochschneeberg Bergbahnhof
The stations OpenStreetMap lists for this service, in order, with the distance along the line as drawn here. A train may skip some of them.
Along the way
- Puchberg valley station
- Baumgartner refreshment halt
- Rack climb through mountain pine
- Hochschneeberg station (1,795 m)
- Kaiserstein & Fischerhütte views
How this line was checked
- Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 1331904 — the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within under 25 m of them
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 4 m from it
- Checked against the running timetable via ÖBB Scotty: our line sits under 100 m from the shape of NÖSBB
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
- See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it
Questions and answers
How long is the Schneebergbahn?
The Schneebergbahn runs 10 km from Puchberg to Hochschneeberg.
How long does the Schneebergbahn take?
The fastest scheduled journey is 40 min for the 10 km. That is an average of 15 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 25 km/h.
Who runs the Schneebergbahn?
NÖVOG, with Salamander cog railcar, steam.
How old is the Schneebergbahn?
The line has been in service since 1897. 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 high does the Schneebergbahn climb?
1,795 m above sea level at its highest point.
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