Scenic route
Schneebergbahn
Puchberg → Hochschneeberg · Austria
- Distance
- 10 km
- Fastest time
- 40 min
- Top speed
- 25 km/h
- Operator
- NÖVOG
- Train
- Salamander cog railcar · steam
- Countries
- Austria
- In service since
- 1897
- Runs
- up to 8 return trips daily (late Apr–early Nov)
- Highest point
- 1,795 m
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.
Along the way
- Puchberg valley station
- Baumgartner refreshment halt
- Rack climb through mountain pine
- Hochschneeberg station (1,795 m)
- Kaiserstein & Fischerhütte views
More scenic routes
- Glacier Express Zermatt → St. Moritz
- Bernina Express Chur → Tirano
- Bergensbanen Oslo → Bergen
- West Highland Line Glasgow → Mallaig
More train routes in Austria.