Tauern Railway

Tauern Railway
Overview
Other name(s) Schwarzach St. Veit–Spittal-Millstättersee
Railway
Native name Tauerbahn
Type Heavy rail, Passenger rail
Intercity rail
Status Operational
Locale Salzburg
Termini Schwarzach St. Veit
Millstättersee
Stations 21
Line number 222 01
Operation
Opened Stages between 1905–1909
Owner Austrian Federal Railways
Operator(s) Austrian Federal Railways
Technical
Line length 79 km (49 mi)
No. of tracks Double track
* Schwarzach-St. V. – Loifarn-Süd (5,4 km)
* turnout Loifarn 1 – turnout Bad Hofg. 1 (13,3 km)
* Angertal – turnout Angertal 1 (2,3 km)
* Böckstein – Spittal-Millstättersee (46,5 km)
Single track
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius 247 m
Electrification 15 kV/16.7 Hz AC Overhead line
Operating speed 120 km/h (75 mph)
Maximum incline 3.0 %
Route number 220

The Tauern Railway (German: Tauernbahn) is an Austrian railway line between Schwarzach-Sankt Veit in the state of Salzburg and Spittal an der Drau in Carinthia. It is part of one of the most important north-south trunk routes (Magistrale) in Europe and also carries tourist traffic for the Gastein Valley. The standard gauge railway line is 79 km (49 mi) long and climbs the High Tauern range of the Central Eastern Alps with a maximum incline of 2.5%, it crosses the mountain crest through the 8,371 m (27,464 ft) long Tauern Tunnel.

History

Map of the Alpine Railways, 1921

The building of the Tauernbahn was part of the larger "Alpine Railways" investment project pushed by the Cisleithanian government of Austria-Hungary and Minister Heinrich von Wittek from 1901 onwards to connect the restored main Austrian seaport at Trieste with Bohemia and the northern parts of the Monarchy. Construction was executed by the public Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways to achieve an alternative route bypassing the Southern Railway line from Vienna to Trieste via the Semmering railway operated by the private Austrian Southern Railway company. Other sections built in the course of this infrastructure investment were the Karavanke railway including the Karawanken Tunnel from Villach to Jesenice, continued by the Bohinj Railway (Wocheiner Bahn) leading through the Julian Alps to Trieste, as well as the railway line from the city of Linz across the Pyhrn Pass to the Selzthal rail hub.

Construction of the Tauern Tunnel began in July 1901, the northern ramp from Schwarzach-St. Veit was built from 1902 onwards. The Bad Gastein station opened in 1905. 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. The railway line was completed in 1909 and inaugurated by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria at Spittal station on July 5.

The tunnel itself had been built double-track, the northern and southern sections only single-track. The Obervellach station near the southern tunnel exit, situated on a slope 365 m (1,198 ft) 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. 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 ad to allow higher travelling speeds, the southern ramp was completed in 2009.

Since 1920 car shuttle trains (Tauernschleuse) through the Tauern Tunnel ply between the stations of Bad Gastein-Böckstein and Mallnitz.

Falkenstein Bridge and Falkenstein Castle near Obervellach, Carinthia

See also

Sources

External links

References

    Coordinates: 47°04′13″N 13°08′21″E / 47.0703°N 13.1391°E / 47.0703; 13.1391

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