A mountain railway is a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

that operates in a mountainous region. It may operate through the mountains by following mountain valleys and tunneling beneath mountain passes, or it may climb a mountain to provide transport to and from the summit. Mountain railways often use narrow gauge tracks to allow for tight curves in the track and reduce tunnel size and structure gauge, and hence construction cost and effort. Where mountain railways need to climb steep gradients, they may use

steep grade railway A steep grade railway is a railway that ascends and descends a slope that has a steep grade. Such railways can use a number of different technologies to overcome the steepness of the grade. Usage Many steep grade railways are located in mountai ...

technology, or even operate as funicular railways.

List of mountain railways

Argentina

* Mendoza to Los Andes, Chile, see Chile below

Australia

Glenreagh Mountain Railway Glenreagh Mountain Railway, known as the GMR, was established in 1989 as a heritage tourist railway at Glenreagh, near Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. GMR's objective is to restore and operate a heritage tourist railway on the Glenre ...

* Mt Morgan Rack Railway - abandoned in 1955. *

Skitube Alpine Railway The Skitube Alpine Railway is an Australian standard gauge electric rack railway in the Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales. It provides access to the snowfields at Blue Cow Mountain and the Perisher Valley. History In the 1980s, deve ...

West Coast Wilderness Railway The West Coast Wilderness Railway is a reconstruction of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company Mount Lyell railway in Western Tasmania between Queenstown and Regatta Point, Strahan. The railway is significant because of its Abt rack s ...

Austria

* Achensee Railway *

Arlberg Railway The Arlberg Railway (german: Arlbergbahn), which connects the Austrian cities Innsbruck and Bludenz, is Austria's only ''east-west'' mountain railway. It is one of the highest standard gauge railways in Europe and the second highest in Austria, a ...

Mariazell Railway The Mariazell Railway (german: Mariazellerbahn) is an electrically operated narrow-gauge railway (with a track gauge of ) which connects the Lower Austrian capital of Sankt Pölten with the Styrian pilgrimage centre of Mariazell. The line was op ...

* Pöstlingberg Railway * Semmering Railway - A world Heritage Site * Schafberg Railway *

Schneeberg Railway The Schneeberg Railway (german: Schneebergbahn) is a local railway line in Lower Austria running from Wiener Neustadt to the Hochschneeberg mountain. From Wiener Neustadt to Puchberg am Schneeberg it runs as a standard gauge, adhesion railw ...

Bolivia

* Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia * Ferrocarril de Arica a La Paz, Arica– La Paz * Rio Mulatos-Potosí line

Brazil

Corcovado Rack Railway The Corcovado Rack Railway ( pt, Trem do Corcovado) is a mountain rack railway in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from Cosme Velho to the summit of Corcovado at an elevation of . The summit is famous for its giant statue of '' Christ the Redeemer'' and ...

* São Paulo Railway

Canada

* BC Rail, crosses the

Pacific Coast Range The Pacific Coast Ranges (officially gazetted as the Pacific Mountain System in the United States) are the series of mountain ranges that stretch along the West Coast of North America from Alaska south to Northern and Central Mexico. Although the ...

of the Coast Mountains (

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, pat ...

& Lillooet Ranges) * Kicking Horse Pass * Rogers Pass * White Pass and Yukon Route *

Yellowhead Pass The Yellowhead Pass is a mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Americas in the Canadian Rockies. It is located on the provincial boundary between the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, and lies within Jasper ...

Chile

* Ferrocarill Arica La Paz, Arica– La Paz * Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia * El Ferrocarril Trasandino Los Andes - Mendoza, Los Andes - Mendoza. The rebuild will be adhesion only.

China

* Gebishi Railway * Kunming–Hai Phong Railway * Qingzang railway

Colombia

* Colombian Railways

Croatia

* Lika line *

Rijeka line Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Prim ...

Eritrea

Eritrean Railway The Eritrean Railway is the only railway system in Eritrea. It was constructed between 1887 and 1932 during the Italian Eritrea colony and connects the port of Massawa with Asmara. Originally it also connected to Bishia. The line was partly dama ...

France

* Artouste (Petit train d') * La Rhune (Petit train de) * Mont Blanc Tramway * Montenvers Railway * Saint Gervais-Vallorcine (Ligne de)

Germany

Drachenfels Railway The Drachenfels Railway (german: Drachenfelsbahn) is a rack railway line in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany. The line runs from Königswinter, on the east bank of the Rhine, to the summit of the Drachenfels mountain at an altitude of ...

(''Drachenfelsbahn'') * Harz Railway (''Harzbahn'') **

Rübeland Railway The Rübeland Railway (german: Rübelandbahn) is a railway link from Blankenburg via Rübeland and Königshütte to Tanne in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It was built by the Halberstadt-Blankenburg railway (HBE) between 1880 and 188 ...

(''Rübelandbahn'') ** Harz Narrow Gauge Railways (''Harzer Schmalspurbahnen'') *** Harz Railway (''Harzquerbahn'') *** Brocken Railway (''Brockenbahn'') *** Selke Valley Railway(''Selketalbahn'') *

Murg Valley Railway The Murg Valley Railway (german: Murgtalbahn) is a 58 kilometre long railway line in the Northern Black Forest in Germany, that links Rastatt and Freudenstadt. It was opened in stages from 1868 to 1928 being built outwards from both Rastatt and Fr ...

(''Murgtalbahn'') * Schwarza Valley Railway (''Schwarzatalbahn'') *

Wendelstein Railway The Wendelstein Rack Railway (german: Wendelsteinbahn), sometimes just referred to as the Wendelstein Railway, is an electrically-driven metre gauge rack railway (with several adhesion sections) that runs up the Wendelstein in the Upper Bavarian ...

(''Wendelsteinbahn'') * Bavarian Zugspitze Railway (''Bayerische Zugspitzbahn'')

Georgia

* Borjomi-Bakuriani railway "Kukushka" (ბაკურიანი-ბორჯომი რკინიგზა)

Greece

* Diakofto Kalavrita Railway

Hong Kong

* Peak Tramways

India

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the DHR or the Toy Train, is a gauge railway that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal. Built between 1879 and 1881, it is about long. It climbs from ab ...

- A world Heritage Site * Nilgiri Mountain Railway - A world Heritage Site * Kalka-Shimla Railway - A world Heritage Site *

Matheran Hill Railway The Matheran Hill Railway (MHR) is a narrow-gauge heritage railway in Maharashtra, India, which is administered by the Central Railway. It covers a distance of , cutting a swathe through forest and connecting Neral to Matheran in the Western ...

Isle of Man

* Snaefell Mountain Railway

Israel

Carmelit The Carmelit ( he, כַּרְמְלִית Arabic: كرمليت) is an underground funicular railway in Haifa, Israel. Construction started in 1956 and ended in 1959. It is the oldest underground transit system in the Middle East and currently th ...

Italy

* Superga Rack Railway

Japan

* Hakone Tozan Railway * Ikawa Line, Oigawa Railway *

Kurobe Gorge Railway The , or for short, is a private, narrow gauge railway company operating the Kurobe Gorge Main Line along the Kurobe River in the Kurobe gorge area of Toyama Prefecture, Japan. The railway was built to serve the construction of the Kurobe dam ...

Mexico

* Ferrocarril de Córdoba a Huatusco

New Zealand

* Rimutaka Incline Commenced operation in 1878 and ceased operation in 1955.

Norway

* Flåmsbana

Peru

* Empresa nacional de ferrocarriles del Peru * Ferrocarril Central Andino ( Standard gauge) *

Ferrocarril Huancayo - Huancavelica Futbol Club Sonsonate is a Salvadoran professional football club based in Sonsonate, El Salvador. The club plays its home games at Estadio Anna Mercedes Campos, a stadium located in the City suburb of Sonsonate, Sonsonate, since 2009. The team is ...

, (built to narrow gauge , but

converted Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

to between 2006 and 2010) * Ferrocarril del sur de Peru Arequipa -

Puno Puno (Aymara and qu, Punu) is a city in southeastern Peru, located on the shore of Lake Titicaca. It is the capital city of the Puno Region and the Puno Province with a population of approximately 140,839 (2015 estimate). The city was establ ...

, ( Standard gauge) * Cusco - Machu Picchu, Cusco - Machu Picchu ( gauge)

Romania

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Blejoi commun ...

- Brașov railway * Brașov -

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...

- Arad railway * Râmnicu Vâlcea -

railway *

Târgu Jiu Târgu Jiu () is the capital of Gorj County in the Oltenia region of Romania. It is situated on the Southern Sub-Carpathians, on the banks of the river Jiu. Eight localities are administered by the city: Bârsești, Drăgoieni, Iezureni, Polat ...

- Simeria railway *

Drobeta-Turnu Severin Drobeta-Turnu Severin (), colloquially Severin, is a city in Mehedinți County, Oltenia, Romania, on the northern bank of the Danube, close to the Iron Gates. "Drobeta" is the name of the ancient Dacian and Roman towns at the site, and the modern ...

- Caransebeș railway * Oraviţa - Anina railway * Cluj-Napoca - Oradea railway * Brașov - Miercurea Ciuc - Deda railway, and Brașov - Întorsura Buzăului * Salva - Sighetul Marmatiei railway * Adjud - Siculeni railway * Suceava -

Ilva Mică Ilva Mică ( hu, Kisilva) is a commune in Bistrița-Năsăud County, Transylvania, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, ...

railway, and Vama - Moldovita * Arad - Ineu - Brad * Buzău - Nehoiașu.

Russia

Apsheronsk narrow-gauge railway The Apsheronsk narrow-gauge railway (russian: italic=yes, Апшеронская узкоколейная железная дорога, ''Apsheronskya uzkokoleynaya zheleznaya doroga'') is a mountain narrow-gauge railway located in Krasnodar Kra ...

- located in the

Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar Krai (russian: Краснода́рский край, r=Krasnodarsky kray, p=krəsnɐˈdarskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and ...

, gauge of .

Slovakia

* Čierny Hron Railway

Slovenia

Bohinj railway

Spain

Montserrat Rack Railway The Montserrat Rack Railway ( ca, Cremallera de Montserrat, ) is a mountain railway line north-west of Barcelona in Catalonia. The line runs from Monistrol de Montserrat to the mountain-top monastery of Montserrat. The line is long and h ...

Vall de Núria Rack Railway The Vall de Núria Rack Railway ( ca, Cremallera de Núria, ) is a mountain railway in the Pyrenees mountains in the north of the Catalonia region of Spain. The line connects Ribes de Freser with Queralbs and Vall de Núria in Ripollès, Gi ...

Switzerland

Appenzeller Bahnen Appenzell Railways (german: Appenzeller Bahnen, AB) is a Swiss railway company with headquarters in Herisau. It operates a network of railways in the cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, St. Gallen and Thurgau. History The o ...

* Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen-Mürren * Bergbahn Rheineck-Walzenhausen * Lötschberg railway line * Berner Oberland Bahn * Brienz Rothorn Bahn * Chemin de fer Aigle-Leysin * Chemin de fer Aigle-Ollon-Monthey-Champéry * Chemin de fer Aigle-Sépey-Diablerets * Chemin de fer Bex-Villars-Bretaye * Chemins de fer electriques Veveysans * Chemin de fer Montreux-Glion-Rochers-de-Naye *

Chemin de fer Nyon-St-Cergue-Morez Chemin or Le Chemin may refer to: Arts and media * ''Le chemin'' (Emmanuel Moire album), 2013 album by French singer Emmanuel Moire * ''Le chemin'' (Kyo album), 2003 album by French band Kyo ** "Le Chemin" (song), title song from same-titled Kyo ...

* Emmental-Burgdorf-Thun-Bahn * Gornergratbahn * Gotthardbahn * Jungfraubahn * Harderbahn * Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (formerly BVZ Zermatt-Bahn, Furka Oberalp Bahn) * Monte Generoso Railway *

Chemin de Fer Montreux Oberland Bernois The Montreux Oberland Bernois Railway (french: link=no, Chemin de fer Montreux Oberland Bernois, german: link=no, Montreux Berner Oberland Bahn, abbreviated MOB), is an electrified railway line that operates in southwest Switzerland. It is one o ...

Pilatusbahn The Pilatus Railway (german: Pilatusbahn, links=no, PB) is a mountain railway in Switzerland and the steepest rack railway in the world, with a maximum gradient of 48% and an average gradient of 35%. The line runs from Alpnachstad, on Lake Alpn ...

* Rhätische Bahn *

Rigi Bahnen Rigi Railways (german: Rigi Bahnen) is a railway company that operates a group of railways on the mountain Rigi, located between two of the arms of Lake Lucerne, in Switzerland. They include two standard gauge rack railways, the Vitznau–Rig ...

( Arth-Rigi-Bahn, Vitznau-Rigi-Bahn) * Rorschach-Heiden-Bahn * Schynige Platte Bahn *

Transports de Martigny et Régions The Transports de Martigny et Régions (TMR) company in the Valais canton of Switzerland operates bus and coach services and two electric railway lines: * Martigny–Châtelard Railway (MC), , with the ''Mont-Blanc Express'' * Martigny–Orsières ...

( Chemin de fer Martigny–Châtelard and Chemin de fer Martigny–Orsières) * Trogenerbahn * Uetlibergbahn * Wädenswil-Einsiedeln-Bahn *

Wengernalpbahn The Wengernalp Railway (german: Wengernalpbahn, WAB) is a long rack railway line in Switzerland. It runs from Lauterbrunnen to Grindelwald via Wengen and Kleine Scheidegg, making it the world's longest continuous rack and pinion railway. The ...

* Waldenburgerbahn * Zentralbahn (former Luzern-Stans-Engelberg-Bahn, Brünigbahn)

Taiwan

Alishan Forest Railway Alishan Forest Railway () is an 86 km network of narrow gauge railways running up to and throughout the popular mountain resort of Alishan in Chiayi County, Taiwan. The railway, originally constructed for logging, has become a tourist a ...

United Kingdom

* Brecon Mountain Railway * Cairngorm Mountain Railway * Conwy Valley line * Ffestiniog Railway * Highland Main Line * Settle–Carlisle line * Snowdon Mountain Railway *

Welsh Highland Railway The Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) or Rheilffordd Eryri is a long, restored narrow gauge heritage railway in the Welsh county of Gwynedd, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations ...

* West Highland Line

United States

* Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railway * Boca and Loyalton Railroad * Carson and Tahoe Lumber and Fluming Company * Cascade Tunnel * Cass Scenic Railroad State Park * Central Pacific Railroad *

Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south from De ...

Denver and Salt Lake Railway The Denver and Salt Lake Railway (D&SL) was a U.S. railroad company located in Colorado. Originally incorporated in 1902 as the Denver, Northwestern and Pacific (DN&P) Railway, it had as a goal a direct connection of Denver, Colorado, with Sa ...

* Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad * Feather River Route *

Georgetown Loop Railroad The Georgetown Loop Railroad is a narrow gauge United States heritage railroad located in the Rocky Mountains in Clear Creek County, adjacent to Interstate 70 in Colorado. This tourist train runs between the communities of Georgetown and S ...

Gilpin Railroad The Gilpin Railroad, earlier the Gilpin Tramway Company, was a Narrow gauge railway, narrow gauge railway in Gilpin County, Colorado, in operation from 1887 to 1917. Gold extraction In April 1859, John H. Gregory discovered alluvial gold in Cle ...

* Lookout Mountain Incline Railway in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020 ...

Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway The Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway (also known as the Pikes Peak Cog Railway) is a cog railway that climbs one of the most iconic mountains in the United States, Pikes Peak in Colorado. The base station is in Manitou Springs, near ...

Michigan-California Lumber Company The Michigan-California Lumber Company was an early 20th-century Ponderosa and Sugar pine logging operation in the Sierra Nevada. It is best remembered for the Shay locomotives used to move logs to the sawmill. American River Land and Lumber Compa ...

* Mount Lowe Railway * Mount Tom Railroad *

Mount Washington Cog Railway The Mount Washington Cog Railway, also known as the Cog, is the world's first mountain-climbing cog railway (rack-and-pinion railway). The railway climbs Mount Washington in New Hampshire, United States. It uses a Marsh rack system and both ste ...

* Mountain Division *

Northwestern Pacific Railroad The Northwestern Pacific Railroad is a regional shortline railroad utilizing a stretch of the 271 mile mainline between Schellville and Windsor with freight and Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) commuter trains. Formerly, it was a r ...

Otis Elevating Railway The Otis Elevating Railway was a narrow gauge cable funicular railroad leading to the Catskill Mountain House in Palenville, New York. For the first 64 years of its existence, the Catskill Mountain House was accessible only by a long stagecoach ...

* Raton Pass *

Rio Grande Southern Railroad The Rio Grande Southern Railroad ( reporting mark RGS, also referred to as "The Southern") was a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge railroad which ran in the southwestern region of the US state of Colorado, from the towns of Durango to Ridgway, ...

San Diego and Arizona Railway The San Diego and Arizona Railway was a Short-line railroad, short line United States, U.S. railroad founded by entrepreneur John D. Spreckels, and dubbed "The Impossible Railroad" by engineers of its day due to the immense logistical challeng ...

* Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad *

Silver City, Pinos Altos and Mogollon Railroad Silver City, Pinos Altos and Mogollon Railroad (SC, PA&M) was a narrow gauge railway serving copper mines along the Continental Divide in the mountains of southwestern New Mexico. The communities of Silver City and Pinos Altos developed as 1 ...

Silverton Railroad The Silverton Railroad, now defunct, was an American narrow gauge railroad constructed between Silverton, Colorado and mining districts near Red Mountain Pass, Colorado. The Silverton Railroad is remembered for the innovative solutions to ...

* Tehachapi Loop * Uintah Railway * White Pass and Yukon Route

Venezuela

* Gran Ferrocarril de Venezuela

Vietnam

* Đà Lạt– Tháp Chàm Railway - Abandoned after the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

Mountain railways in fiction

The Culdee Fell Railway is featured in the book ''Mountain Engines'', part of

The Railway Series ''The Railway Series'' is a series of British books about a railway known as the North Western Railway, located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first published in May 1945 by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. T ...

by Rev.W.Awdry.

References

External links

Homepage of the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn

El Ferrocarril Trasandino Los Andes
–

Mendoza, Argentina Mendoza (, ), officially the City of Mendoza ( es, Ciudad de Mendoza) is the capital of the province of Mendoza in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plains, on the eastern ...

( Trans-Andean Railways) (all others in Spanish only)
seconstruye.com el tren Los Andes
– Mendoza
Map of central Peru
Callao – Huancayo
Map of south Peru/Bolivia
Machu Picchu – Lake Titicaca – west coast Pacific Ocean
Route
Arequipa –

( Lake Titicaca)
Route
Cusco –

( Lake Titicaca)
Route
Cusco – Machu Picchu
Homepage of the Mount Washington Cog Railway
(First ever mountain climbing cog railway) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mountain Railway Rail transport-related lists *