Höllental Railway

Geschichte

The Lower Austrian Höllental Railway (Höllentalbahn) is a narrow gauge electric railway with a track gauge of, which runs from the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) station of Payerbach Reichenau on the Semmering Railway for approximately five kilometres through the market town of Reichenau an der Rax to Hirschwang.HistoryThe railway opened in 1918 to serve a paper mill and was opened to passengers and general goods traffic in 1926. Apart from local commuter traffic the railway also served tourist groups as a feeder for the Rax Cable Car, the first cable car in Austria which also opened in 1926. At the beginning of the 1960s large scale investment was needed, so in 1963 passenger traffic was stopped and replaced by post office buses. The goods traffic, in particular to the paper mill in Hirschwang, continued until 1982.In 1977 the Austrian Society for Local Railways (ÖGLB) was created, and in 1979 began operating passenger trips for tourists on weekends in the summer. Since other traffic has ceased the ÖGLB has also been responsible for maintenance of the railway. The original operator of the railway, Payerbach Hirschwang GmbH, is still in existence and the legal owner.