Scenic route
Tauern Railway
Salzburg → Villach · Austria
- Distance
- 183 km
- Fastest time
- 2 h 40 min
- Top speed
- 160 km/h
- Operator
- ÖBB
- Train
- ÖBB Railjet / EuroCity
- Countries
- Austria
- In service since
- 1909
- Runs
- every 1–2 h
- Highest point
- 1,226 m
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.
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
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.