Tauern Railway

Franz Joseph’s 1909 crossing of the Hohe Tauern: stone viaducts up the Gastein spa valley to an 8.4 km tunnel at 1,226 m.

The Tauernbahn of 1909 was the last great Alpine crossing of the Habsburg empire, opened by Emperor Franz Joseph himself at Spittal. From Salzburg the line passes the fortress of Hohenwerfen, climbs the Gastein valley on a staircase of stone viaducts past belle-époque spa hotels, and pierces the Hohe Tauern at 1,226 m. Railjets and Zagreb-bound EuroCitys share the rails with a drive-on car shuttle that rattles through the summit tunnel.

Stations

1. 0 kmSalzburg Hauptbahnhof
2. 29 kmGolling-Abtenau
3. 52 kmBischofshofen
4. 61 kmSt. Johann im Pongau
5. 66 kmSchwarzach-St. Veit
6. 80 kmDorfgastein
7. 85 kmBad Hofgastein
8. 111 kmMallnitz-Obervellach
9. 145 kmSpittal-Millstättersee
10. 180 kmVillach Hauptbahnhof

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

• Hohenwerfen fortress
• Salzach valley to Schwarzach
• Gastein viaducts & waterfalls
• Bad Gastein’s belle-époque terraces
• Tauern tunnel (8.4 km, 1,226 m)
• Mölltal descent to the Drau

How this line was checked

• Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 3313693 — 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 6 m from it
• Checked against the running timetable via ÖBB Scotty: our line sits under 100 m from the shape of IC 899
• 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 Tauern Railway?

The Tauern Railway runs 183 km from Salzburg to Villach.

How long does the Tauern Railway take?

The fastest scheduled journey is 2 h 40 min for the 183 km. That is an average of 69 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 130 km/h.

Who runs the Tauern Railway?

ÖBB.

How old is the Tauern Railway?

The line has been in service since 1909. 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 Tauern Railway climb?

1,226 m above sea level at its highest point.

View on the world railway map →

Read more on Wikipedia ↗