List of highest railways by country

This is a list of the highest railways by country. It includes the name of the railway, its highest point and highest elevation and its opening year.

List

Country Railway line Highest point Highest elevation Opened
China Xining-Golmud-Lhasa Tanggula 5,068 m (16,627 ft)[1] 2006
Peru Lima-Huancayo Ticlio 4,829 m (15,843 ft)[2][3] 1893
Bolivia Rio Mulatos-Potosí Cóndor 4,786 m (15,702 ft)  
USA Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway Pikes Peak Summit 4,301 m (14,111 ft)[4] 1891
Argentina Salta–Antofagasta Viaducto La Polvorilla 4,220 m (13,845 ft) 1948
Ecuador Quito-Guayaquil Urbina 3,609 m (11,841 ft) 1908
China Lanzhou–Xinjiang High-Speed Railway Qilianshan No.2 Tunnel 3,608 m (11,837 ft) 2014
 Switzerland Jungfrau Railway Jungfraujoch 3,454 m (11,332 ft)[5] 1912
Kenya Uganda Railway Baringo County 2,785 m (9,137 ft) 1930
Germany Bavarian Zugspitze Railway[6] Schneefernerhaus 2,650 m (8,694 ft) 1930
Taiwan Alishan Forest Railway Chushan 2,451 m (8,041 ft) 1986
Eritrea Massawa–Asmara Railway Asmara 2,394 m (7,854 ft) 1911
France Tramway du Mont-Blanc[7] Nid d'aigle de Bionnassay 2,380 m (7,808 ft) 1909
Ethiopia Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway Addis Ababa 2,293 m (7,523 ft) 2018
India Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Ghum 2,257 m (7,405 ft) 1880
Pakistan Zhob Valley Railway Kan Mehtarzai Railway Station 2,224 m (7,297 ft) 1921
Spain Vall de Núria[8] Vall de Núria Rack Railway 1,968 m (6,457 ft) 1931
Australia Skitube Bullock Terminal 1,905 m (6,250 ft) 1987
Sri Lanka Main Line (Sri Lanka) Pattipola 1,892 m (6,207 ft)[9][10] 1894
Austria Schneeberg Railway[11] Hochschneeberg 1,792 m (5,879 ft) 1897
Georgia Borjomi-Bakuriani Bakuriani 1,650 m (5,413 ft) 1902
Italy Brenner Line[12] Brenner 1,371 m (4,498 ft) 1867
Slovakia Tatra Electric Railway Štrbské Pleso 1,350 m (4,429 ft) 1896
Japan Koumi Line Nobeyama 1,346 m (4,416 ft) 1935
Canada Canadian Pacific Railway Mountain Subdivision Rogers Pass 1,330 m (4,364 ft) 1889
Russia Baikal-Amur Mainline Mururin Pass 1,323 m (4,341 ft) 1984
Bulgaria Septemvri-Dobrinishte narrow gauge line[13] Avramovo 1,267 m (4,157 ft) 1939
Norway Bergen Line Finse 1,222 m (4,009 ft)[14] 1908
United Kingdom Snowdon Mountain Railway Snowdon Summit 1,065 m (3,494 ft) 1896
Czech Republic Strakonice-Volary line Kubova Huť 997 m (3,271 ft) 1893
South Korea Taebaek Line Chujeon 901 m (2,956 ft)[15] 1973
Poland Izera railway Szklarska Poręba (Jakuszyce) 886 m (2,907 ft)[16] 1902
Portugal Linha do Tua Rossas railway station 849 m (2,785 ft)[17] 1906[note 1][note 2]
Indonesia Padalarang-Kasugihan Nagreg 848 m (2,782 ft) 1890
New Zealand North Island Main Trunk Waiouru 832 m (2,730 ft) 1908
Slovenia Ljubljana–Trieste[18][19] Postojna Gate 610 m (2,001 ft) 1856
Sweden Mittbanan[20] Near Storlien 601 m (1,972 ft)
Liechtenstein Feldkirch–Buchs[21] Near Schaanwald 452 m (1,483 ft) 1872
Ireland Mallow–Tralee line[22] Near Rathmore 150 m (492 ft) 1853

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Opening year of the highest-point stretch; the opening year of the railway's first stretch was 1887.
  2. ^ Highest-point stretch closed in 1992; railway fully closed in 2008.

References

  1. ^ "World's highest railway station enters key construction period". Canada Tibet Committee. July 28, 2005. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
  2. ^ Bennett, Suzy (October 2003). "A train journey through the Peruvian Andes". Wanderlust. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
  3. ^ "Our Train - The Highest in the World". Incas del Peru. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
  4. ^ Manitou & Pike's Peak Cog Railway. "Along The Route". Pikes Peak Cog Railway. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
  5. ^ Jungfraubahnen. "Jungfraujoch - Top of Europe". Jungfrau Ski Region. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
  6. ^ Ride the Zugspitzbahn rack railway up Germany's highest mountain
  7. ^ "Tramway du Mont-Blanc (TMB) - Train à crémaillère - Ouvertures / Horaires / Tarifs".
  8. ^ Insight Guides Great Railway Journeys of Europe, Spain's highest station. ["Núria is the highest station in Spain"]
  9. ^ "Top 10 highest train stations in Sri Lanka". Train Journey to the Green Zone in Sri Lanka. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
  10. ^ "Pattipola Railway Station of Sri Lanka". SariSara Sri Lanka. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
  11. ^ Station Puchberg am Schneeberg, lower-austria.info. ["Fans of nostalgia can be transported in around 40 minutes by the Schneebergbahn to Austria's highest railway station"]
  12. ^ SULMONA, AQ, ABRUZZO, magazine.dooid.it. ["At the Rivisondoli-Pescocostanzo station, the line reaches 1268 m above sea level making it the highest station on the Italian FS network after the Brenner Pass."]
  13. ^ The Most Beautiful Train Journeys in Bulgaria, theculturetrip.com. ["It runs through three mountains and stops at the highest railway station in the Balkan Peninsula, Avramovo Station."]
  14. ^ "Finse Railway Station Webcam – The Highest Station in Norway". Camscape. October 13, 2012. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
  15. ^ Korea Tourism Organization. "Chujeon Station". Visit Korea. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
  16. ^ "Najwyższa linia kolejowa w Polsce - Szklarska Poręba". www.szklarskaporeba.pl. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  17. ^ Esteves, João Sena; Ramos, Luís; Nóbrega, João Miguel; Souto, António Pedro; Sepúlveda, Manuel João (2012). "Gaining Insight into Tua Railway Line through Interactive Experiments" (PDF). Railroads in Historical Contexts. 2. Universidade do Minho: 360. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  18. ^ Retrieved from the Google Earth geoinformation system. The highest point on the line is north of Postojna railway station, at the Postojna Gate
  19. ^ "Rail network". slo-zeleznice.si. Slovenian Railways. Retrieved 30 April 2021. Station located at the highest point above sea level: Postojna station at 582m
  20. ^ "Banverkets årsredovisning 2009" (PDF) (in Swedish). Banverket. 2009. Retrieved 2021-08-10.
  21. ^ Retrieved from the Swisstopo topographic map (only line in Liechtenstein)
  22. ^ Retrieved from the Google Earth geoinformation system