Scenic route
Drachenfelsbahn
Königswinter → Drachenfels · Germany
- Distance
- 1.5 km
- Fastest time
- 8 min
- Top speed
- 12 km/h
- Operator
- Bergbahnen im Siebengebirge
- Train
- Rack railway
- Countries
- Germany
- In service since
- 1883
Page last updated 2026-07-22 · figures are published values, not live data · corrections log
Germany’s oldest rack railway (1883) climbs 220 m in eight minutes from Königswinter past Schloss Drachenburg to the Drachenfels ruin above the Rhine — Siegfried’s dragon mountain.
View on the world railway map →More scenic routes
- Glacier Express
“The world’s slowest express”: 291 bridges, 91 tunnels and the 2,033 m Oberalp Pass at an average of 36 km/h.
- Bernina Express
A UNESCO World Heritage railway: 7 % grades with no rack, the Brusio spiral, and the highest rail crossing of the Alps at 2,253 m.
- Bergensbanen
Northern Europe’s highest main line: over the bare Hardangervidda plateau at 1,237 m, through 182 tunnels.
- West Highland Line
Regularly voted the world’s most scenic railway: around Rannoch Moor and over the 21-arch Glenfinnan Viaduct of film fame.
More train routes in Germany.