Reisseck Mountain Railway
The Reißeck Mountain Railway, or Reißeck-Höhenbahn, was a narrow-gauge railway in Carinthia, Austria. It started at Schoberboden, the top station of the Reißeck Funicular, and climbed to the Seenplateau near the Berghotel Reißeck. It was built to help construct the Reißeck-Kreuzeck Power Station and opened on 1 July 1953. After the power project was finished, the line stayed in use for maintenance and was opened to tourists as well.
The line was about 3.3 kilometers long, with roughly 2.13 kilometers running through a tunnel. The passenger terminus was at the Berghotel Reißeck, about 2,250 meters above sea level, making it one of the highest public railways in Austria without a rack system. A train could carry 68 passengers; earlier coaches had 36 seats, and in 1983 two longer driving coaches were added.
Near Seenplateau, a 250-meter-long industrial cable railway branched off to serve Hochalmsee and Radlsee. Most of this section ran in a long tunnel and carried goods for Verbund.
The Reisseck Mountain Railway Company was founded in 1969, although public passenger services began on 16 September 1965.
In August 2014, heavy rain damaged the track. An emergency service operated briefly, but on 7 September 2014 operations ended, with buses planned to replace the railway. The tunnel was to be converted for road use to reach the lakes, which required dismantling the track and a water pipe for Reißeck II Power Station. Delays in Reißeck II meant tourist services at Schoberboden were halted for the foreseeable future.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 12:01 (CET).