The Tauern Railway (german: Tauernbahn) is an
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 ...
n railway line between
Schwarzach-
Sankt Veit in the state of
Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the ...
and
Spittal an der Drau
Spittal an der Drau is a town in the western part of the Austrian federal state of Carinthia. It is the administrative centre of Spittal an der Drau District, Austria's second largest district (''Bezirk'') by area.
Geography
The town is located o ...
in
Carinthia
Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...
. It is part of one of the most important north-south trunk routes (''Magistrale'') in Europe and also carries tourist traffic for the
Gastein
Bad Gastein (; formerly ''Badgastein''; Southern Bavarian: ''Bod Goschdei'') is a spa town in the district of St. Johann im Pongau, in the Austrian state of Salzburg. Picturesquely situated in a high valley of the Hohe Tauern mountain range, it i ...
Valley. The
standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
railway line is long and climbs the
High Tauern
The High Tauern ( pl.; german: Hohe Tauern, it, Alti Tauri) are a mountain range on the main chain of the Central Eastern Alps, comprising the highest peaks east of the Brenner Pass. The crest forms the southern border of the Austrian states of S ...
range of the
Central Eastern Alps
The Central Eastern Alps (german: Zentralalpen or Zentrale Ostalpen), also referred to as Austrian Central Alps (german: Österreichische Zentralalpen) or just Central Alps, comprise the main chain of the Eastern Alps in Austria and the adjacen ...
with a maximum incline of 2.5%, crossing the
Alpine crest through the long
Tauern Tunnel. It is one of the
highest standard gauge railways in Europe and the third highest in Austria.
History
Since the opening of the
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...
in 1869, the
Cisleithania
Cisleithania, also ''Zisleithanien'' sl, Cislajtanija hu, Ciszlajtánia cs, Předlitavsko sk, Predlitavsko pl, Przedlitawia sh-Cyrl-Latn, Цислајтанија, Cislajtanija ro, Cisleithania uk, Цислейтанія, Tsysleitaniia it, Cislei ...
n government of
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
had urged for a direct connection of the restored main Austrian seaport at
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...
with the
Bohemian
Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to:
*Anything of or relating to Bohemia
Beer
* National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst
* Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors
Culture and arts
* Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...
coalfields and iron works in the northern parts of the Monarchy. After lengthy discussions, the building of the ''Tauernbahn'' was set up as a part of the larger "New Alpine Railways" investment project, pushed by the newly established ''
k.k.'' Railway Ministry under
Heinrich von Wittek
Heinrich Ritter von Wittek (29 January 1844 – 9 April 1930) was an Austrian politician of the Christian Social Party (CS). He served as head of the '' k.k.'' Railway Ministry and as Minister-President of Cisleithania for four weeks in 1899/190 ...
from 1901 onwards.
Construction was executed by the public
Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways
The Imperial-Royal State Railways (german: k.k. Staatsbahnen) abbr. ''kkStB'') or Imperial-Royal Austrian State Railways (''k.k. österreichische Staatsbahnen'',The name incorporating "Austrian" appears, for example, in the 1907 official state ha ...
to achieve an alternative route bypassing the
Southern Railway line from
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
to Trieste via the
Semmering railway operated by the private
Austrian Southern Railway
The Austrian Southern Railway (german: link=no, Österreichische Südbahn) is a long double track railway, which linked the capital Vienna with Trieste, former main seaport of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, by railway for the first time. It now ...
company. Other sections built in the course of this infrastructure investment were the
Karawanks Railway from
Villach
Villach (; sl, Beljak; it, Villaco; fur, Vilac) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the po ...
to
Jesenice
Jesenice (, german: Aßling''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru'', vol. 6: Kranjsko. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 144.) is a Slovenian town and the seat of the Municipality of Jesenice on the ...
, continued by the
Bohinj Railway
The Bohinj Railway ( sl, Bohinjska proga, it, Transalpina, german: Wocheiner Bahn) is a railway in Slovenia and Italy. It connects Jesenice in Slovenia with Trieste in Italy. It was built by Austria-Hungary from 1900 to 1906 as a part of a new ...
(''Wocheiner Bahn'') leading through the
Julian Alps
The Julian Alps ( sl, Julijske Alpe, it, Alpi Giulie, , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps that stretch from northeastern Italy to Slovenia, where they rise to 2,864 m at Mount Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia. A large pa ...
to Trieste, as well as the railway line from the city of
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 ...
across the
Pyhrn Pass
Pyhrn Pass is a mountain pass in the Austrian Alps between the Austrian states of Upper Austria and Styria.
It connects Warscheneck and Bosruck and is at an elevation of . The pass road (B 138) has a maximum grade of 10 percent.
Since the mi ...
to the
Selzthal
Selzthal is a municipality in the district of Liezen in the Austrian state of Styria
Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , St ...
rail hub.
Construction of the Tauern Tunnel began on 24 June 1901, the northern ramp from Schwarzach-St. Veit was built from 1902 onwards. Significant construction cost overruns triggered fierce debates in the Austrian
Imperial Council, nevertheless on 20 September 1905 the first section of the line up to
Bad Gastein
Bad Gastein (; formerly ''Badgastein''; Southern Bavarian: ''Bod Goschdei'') is a spa town in the district of St. Johann im Pongau District, St. Johann im Pongau, in the Austrian state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. Picturesquely situated in a hig ...
station was ceremonially opened by Emperor
Franz Joseph I
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...
, Minister-President
Paul Gautsch von Frankenthurn
Paul Gautsch Freiherr von Frankenthurn (26 February 1851 – 20 April 1918) was an Austrian statesman who served three times as Minister-President of Cisleithania.
Biography
Paul Gautsch was born in Döbling (a Vienna suburb incorporated in 189 ...
, and Archbishop Cardinal
Johannes Katschthaler. The southern ramp down to Spittal an der Drau was erected from 1906 under the supervision of the Viennese engineer and entrepreneur
Wilhelm Carl Gustav von Doderer, father of the writer
Heimito von Doderer
Franz Carl Heimito, Ritter von Doderer; known as Heimito von Doderer (5 September 1896 23 December 1966) was an Austrian writer. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times.
Family
Heimito von Doderer was born in Weidlinga ...
. The railway line was completed in 1909 and inaugurated by the emperor at Spittal station on 5 July.
The tunnel itself had been built double-track, the northern and southern sections only single-track. The
Obervellach
Obervellach ( sl, Zgornja Bela) is a market town in the district of Spittal an der Drau, in the Austrian state of Carinthia.
Geography
The town is situated in the valley of the Möll river, on the southern slope of the High Tauern mountain ran ...
station near the southern tunnel exit, situated on a slope above the village, from 1931 could be reached by a
cable car, that was dismantled in 1976. In 1999 the Obervellach station was finally abandoned and relocated to
Mallnitz
Mallnitz is a municipality in the Spittal an der Drau District in Carinthia, Austria.
Geography
It is situated in a high valley of the Hohe Tauern mountain range stretching southwards down to Obervellach on the Möll river and separating the ...
. In 1933-35 the Tauern Railway line was completely electrified. From 1969 onwards further sections were restored to double track including several new passages, viaducts and straightenings to cope with the high traffic load and to allow higher travelling speeds. The southern ramp down to
Pusarnitz was completed double-track in 2009, while parts of the former track bed between Mallnitz and Obervellach were turned into a hiking trail. A new double-track bridge in the Gastein valley was put into operation in 2016.
Rail service
Since 1920
car shuttle train
A car shuttle train, or (sometimes) car-carrying train, is a shuttle train used to transport accompanied cars ( automobiles), and usually also other types of road vehicles, for a relatively short distance.
Car shuttle trains usually operate on ...
s (''Tauernschleuse'') through the Tauern Tunnel ply between the stations of Bad Gastein-Böckstein and Mallnitz. Up to World War II, the Tauern Railway mainly served Austrian domestic rail service, with a few links to
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
(
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
,
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
, and the
Adriatic
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...
coast). After the war, the number of international train services to
Southeast Europe
Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (al ...
increased as the main route via
Bratislava
Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...
and
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
was blocked by the
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...
. From 1951 to 1988 the ''Tauern-Express'' ran from
Ostend
Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...
to Yugoslavia, including
through coach
In rail terminology, a through coach is a passenger car (coach) that is re-marshalled during the course of its journey. It begins the journey attached to one train, and arrives at its destination attached to another train.
Through coaches save t ...
es to
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
and
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
, frequently used by migrant workers (''
Gastarbeiter
(; both singular and plural; ) are foreign worker, foreign or migrant workers, particularly those who had moved to West Germany between 1955 and 1973, seeking work as part of a formal guest worker program (). As a result, guestworkers are ge ...
'') in
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
.
Long-distance services have decreased since the
Yugoslav Wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia from ...
in the 1990s, and by competition from expanded road connections and cheaper flights. Today the Tauern Railway provides
EuroCity
EuroCity, abbreviated as EC, is a cross-border train category within the European inter-city rail network. In contrast to trains allocated to the lower-level "IC" (InterCity) category, EC trains are international services that meet 20 criteri ...
service to Zagreb and ÖBB
InterCity
InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...
connections link
Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the ...
with
Klagenfurt
Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...
, partially served by
Railjet
Railjet is a high-speed rail service in Europe operated by Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and Czech Railways (ČD). Branded as ''Railjet Express (RJX)'' for the fastest services and as ''Railjet (RJ)'' for services with additional stops, it w ...
trains.
See also
*
Rail transport in Austria
Rail transport in Austria is mainly owned by the national rail company ÖBB. The railway network consists of 6,123 km, its gauge is and 3,523 km are electrified.
Austria is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The ...
*
Austrian Federal Railways
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
Footnotes
Sources
*
*
*
*
External links
Departure timesTauern Railway Museum in Schwarzach im PongauOpening of the North Ramp of the Tauern Railway by Franz Joseph I 20 September 1905*
ttp://www.tauernbahn.at The Tauern Railway - www.tauernbahn.atof Construction of the Tauern RailwayFotoalbum: TAUERNBAHN– Railway photographs of the Tauern Railway (www.eisenbahn-in-oesterreich.at)
{{Authority control
Railway lines in Austria
Ankogel Group
Goldberg Group