Semmering Railway

A cab ride over Europe's first standard gauge mountain railway, climbing from Payerbach past viaducts and rock walls to the Semmering pass and down to Mürzzuschlag.

The route

The Semmering Railway carries Austria's Southern Railway over the Semmering pass, between Gloggnitz in Lower Austria and Mürzzuschlag in Styria. The 41 km line was planned and directed by the engineer Carl von Ghega and built between 1848 and 1854, with as many as 20,000 people at work on it. Trains from Vienna already ran as far as Gloggnitz, and the line towards Graz began on the far side at Mürzzuschlag; the mountain between them was the missing link.

Ghega chose to take ordinary adhesion trains over the mountain rather than use ropes or a rack. To do it he followed the valley sides in long curves, some as tight as 190 m in radius, and held the climb to 2 to 2.5 per cent on about 60 per cent of the line. The route needed 14 tunnels, among them the 1,431 m summit tunnel, 16 viaducts, several of them two storeys high, and more than 100 stone arch bridges. Between Gloggnitz and the summit the line rises about 460 m.

In 1998 the line was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is still a working main line run by ÖBB. Siemens Taurus locomotives haul most trains, with older Class 1144 engines helping heavy trains up the grade, and Talent and Desiro ML units work local services. The 27.3 km Semmering Base Tunnel, under construction since 2012 and expected to open around 2030, will take long-distance and freight trains under the mountain, leaving the old line for regional trains and visitors.

What you will see

The film was shot from the driver's cab of a Railway Touring Company special in September 2019. It sets off from Payerbach-Reichenau, beside the viaduct over the Schwarza valley, and starts climbing at once along the slopes above the river. Near Klamm-Schottwien the train runs through the short Klamm tunnel; as it comes out, the ruins of Klamm castle stand on the rock above, and the cliff drops almost straight down towards the village of Schottwien.

Beyond Klamm the line works its way into the side valleys, crossing them on tall stone viaducts and passing along ledges and short tunnels cut into the rock. Breitenstein station, at 791 m at the foot of the Kreuzberg, lies in the middle of this stretch. Above it the train crosses the Kalte Rinne viaduct, 184 m long and 46 m high, the view once shown on the back of the Austrian 20 schilling note, with the Pollereswand rock face beside it.

At Semmering the train enters the summit tunnel, the highest point of the line at just under 900 m, and comes out in Styria. From here the descent is gentler, through meadows and forest past Steinhaus and Spital am Semmering, down the upper Fröschnitz valley to Mürzzuschlag, where the mountain section ends and the line continues down the Mürz valley towards Bruck and Graz.

Riding it for real

ÖBB regional trains run over the pass between Payerbach-Reichenau and Mürzzuschlag, stopping at the small mountain stations, and REX trains link Vienna with Mürzzuschlag. Long-distance Railjet trains between Vienna, Graz and Carinthia use the same tracks. On weekends extra trains run for hikers.

A marked railway hiking trail follows the line, with viewpoints such as the 20-Schilling-Blick over the Kalte Rinne viaduct; the stretch from Semmering to Breitenstein is about 9.5 km. Check ÖBB for current timetables and fares, and for any changes as work on the base tunnel continues.

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