The Pöstlingbergbahn () is a

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

electric railway, or "mountain

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

way", in

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. It connects the main square in the centre of Linz with the district of

Pöstlingberg The Pöstlingberg () is a high hill on the left bank of the Danube in the city of Linz, Austria. It is a popular tourist destination, with a viewing platform over the city, and is the site of the Pöstlingberg pilgrimage church, and the Linz Gro ...

, located at the top of a hill (or small mountain) at the northern end of the city. Opened in 1898, for 110 years the metre-gauge railway ran from a terminal station in Linz's Urfahr neighbourhood, located across from the terminus of urban

route 3, to Pöstlingberg. In 2009, service was extended from Urfahr to the city centre. To permit this change, the railway was regauged from to and a track connection to the Linz tram network was built. Service was suspended from March 2008 until May 2009 for this work. With a maximum

grade Grade most commonly refers to: * Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance * Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage * Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope Grade or grading may also ref ...

of 11.6%, the Pöstlingbergbahn is one of the steepest

adhesion Adhesion is the tendency of dissimilar particles or surfaces to cling to one another ( cohesion refers to the tendency of similar or identical particles/surfaces to cling to one another). The forces that cause adhesion and cohesion can be ...

railways in the world.Buckley, Richard (2000). ''Tramways and Light Railways of Switzerland and Austria'' (2nd edition), p. 139. Gloucester, UK:

Light Rail Transit Association The Light Rail Transit Association (LRTA), formerly the Light Railway Transport League (LRTL), is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to advocate and encourage research into the retention and development of light rail and tramway/street ...

. . There are steeper grades on at least one other tram system, that of

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, but the Pöstlingbergbahn is still among the world's steepest adhesion railways and has the steepest grade of any in Austria.

History

From the mid-18th century, the community of Pöstlingberg was a destination for

pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on Pilgrimage, a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the a ...

s. A chapel was built there around 1720, and a church opened in 1748. From the end of the 18th Century, the mountain was increasingly frequented by hikers, especially after the summit area had been cleared for military reasons in 1809 and in the 1830s and revealed an impressive view. The construction of a railway was deemed worthwhile. To increase the attractiveness of Pöstlingberg as a destination and to distribute electric current to households in the area it was planned to construct transformers for the distribution of power to both the railway and homes. This was aided in 1883 when the fort in the area was demilitarised. In 1897 the construction company Ritschl & Co. purchased the fort and three months later, transferred the property rights over the land to the newly established ''Tramway- und Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft Linz-Urfahr'' (Tramway and Electric Company Linz-Urfahr) (TEG), the forerunner of today's

Linz AG Linz AG, or LINZ AG, is a city-owned company providing energy supply, municipal services and public transport in the city of Linz and another 115 municipalities in Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is ...

. Tower IV of the fortress incorporates the Pöstlingbergbahn station. At the fortress wall between the tower and tower VI, a hotel/restaurant (now "Pöstlingberg Schlössl") was established. In 1906, the was opened in Tower II. The Pöstlingbergbahn was initially intended to be run as an excursion-type service, in summer months only, and for this reason the only rolling stock procured were six open-sided cars (locally referred to as "summer cars"). Passenger numbers exceeded expectations in the first year of operation, and consequently two enclosed cars were purchased in early 1899.

Ridership

Ridership slowly increased to just over 200,000 passengers per year by the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. During the war and immediate postwar years, passenger numbers rose because of an increase in city dwellers taking trips into the countryside in search of scarce provisions. In the 1920s, commuter numbers increased further still, to 400,000 per year, and then declined in the 1930s to 300,000 per year. During and after

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, passenger numbers reached record levels (1943: 1,264,000 passengers). Until the mid-1950s, the numbers fluctuated to between about 1 and 1.1 million passengers, decreasing since then. Today, about 500,000 people per year use the line. In 1988 the service was converted to a

one-man operation One-person operation (OPO), also known as driver-only operation (DOO), one-man operation (OMO), single person train operation (SPTO), or one-person train operation (OPTO), similarly to Driver Controlled Operation, is operation of a train, bus, ...

; i.e., the use of conductors to collect fares was discontinued. The tramcars (except for the summer cars) were consequently fitted with a

Dead man's handle A dead man's switch (see #Alternative names, alternative names) is a switch that is designed to be activated or deactivated if the human operator becomes incapacitated, such as through death, loss of consciousness, or being bodily removed from c ...

. Furthermore, the points (or

switches In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...

), which previously had to be set by the conductor, were converted to electric operation, with key switches, which enabled the motormen easily to operate them.

Ticket vending machine A ticket machine, also known as a ticket vending machine (TVM), is a vending machine that produces paper or electronic tickets, or recharges a stored-value card or smart card or the user's mobile wallet, typically on a smartphone. For instanc ...

s were also installed. On 24 January 2005 a

derailment In rail transport, a derailment occurs when a rail vehicle such as a train comes off its rails. Although many derailments are minor, all result in temporary disruption of the proper operation of the railway system and they are a potentially ...

sparked a debate over the safety of operations. Mayor Dobusch proposed rebuilding the railway and extending service to Linz's main square. In July 2006 it was decided to modernize the Pöstlingbergbahn.

Modernization and extension

Starting on 25 March 2008 service was temporarily halted for reconstruction and fleet replacement. During the 14-month suspension of rail service, buses provided a substitute service. On the existing section of the line, the most notable change was the re-gauging from

meter gauge Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...

to 900 mm. The track was completely rebuilt, the unusual "Y" head rails being replaced with conventional flat-bottomed rails on concrete ties/sleepers. Three new

low-floor Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i.e ...

tramcars were purchased from Bombardier, numbered 501-503. The purchase price was €4.6 million each. In addition, three old trams (VIII, X and XI) from the then-current fleet were chosen to be retained and modernized through rebuilding of their chassis, and the fitting of dual traction control systems. The emergency braking system was converted to magnetic track brakes instead of the caliper brakes previously used.

Trolley pole A trolley pole is a tapered cylindrical pole of wood or metal, used to transfer electricity from a "live" (electrified) overhead wire to the control and the electric traction motors of a tram or trolley bus. It is a type of current collector. Th ...

current collection was replaced by

pantograph A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a second pen. If a line dr ...

collection with the change; the

overhead wires An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipmen ...

were modified accordingly. The first of three new Bombardier vehicles arrived on 2 April 2009; the other two cars followed in early May. The delivery of the three rebuilt old cars took place at a later date. In 2011 a fourth Bombardier tramcar was delivered, numbered 504 and identical to the other three. The total cost for the conversion amounted to €35 million, €20 million for the vehicles and €15 million for the rebuilding of the line including the extended operation to the main square. The changes have caused the Pöstlingbergbahn to be more closely integrated into the urban transport system. From the Hauptplatz (literally, the "main square") in the city centre, passengers, including tourists travelling by rail from the boat docks, can now travel through to Pöstlingberg. The official opening of the rebuilt and extended Pöstlingbergbahn was held on 29 May 2009, in time to celebrate the line's 111th anniversary.

Museum

A museum has been created at the old lower station of the line at Urfahr. This relates the history and the current state of the Pöstlingbergbahn. Information about various topics such as history, technology, and the vehicles is presented, along with smaller exhibits such as examples of rails, pantographs and the clasp brakes. Outside the station building, the original meter gauge tracks have been retained and used to display open and closed carriages from the original rolling stock.

References

External links