05The story

Engineering craft

The Semmering Railway

Between Gloggnitz and Mürzzuschlag a railway was built from 1848 to 1854 across 41 kilometres of mountains. UNESCO describes it as one of the greatest pioneering works of civil engineering, and it still runs thanks to its tunnels and viaducts. The line starts at 436 metres elevation, reaches its highest point after 29 kilometres at 895 metres, and ends in Mürzzuschlag at 677 metres. It has 14 tunnels totalling 1,477 metres, 16 major viaducts of the same combined length, 118 smaller stone arches, and 11 iron bridges. Its most demanding stretch is a two-tier arched viaduct over the Kalte Rinne, then the Semmering Tunnel at 1,431 metres. The line is part of the Southern Railway operated by Austrian Federal Railways. It entered the World Heritage List in 1998. Electrification between 1957 and 1959 changed the look of the poles, not the idea of the line. Ride it if you can rather than settle for a photo of the bridge: movement is the proof that the stone was not built for viewing alone. The engineer the page names is Carl von Ghega.

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Line length (km)

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Highest point (m)

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Number of tunnels

1998

World Heritage since