★ 4K 🇦🇹 Linz Hauptplatz - Pöstlingberg cab ride, Austria [12.2025] (steepest adhesion railway*)

In this video, we’ll be looking what is arguably the steepest adhesion railway in the world*, with a peak gradient of 116 permill (First time in 4K on youtube). The Pöstlingbergbahn was completed in 1897, originally as a metre gauge railway from the city of Linz in Austria up the Pöstlingberg, a popular destination for locals and tourists, boasting beautiful views of the surrounding area. In 2008, work commenced to integrate it into Linz’s tram network, which required a connecting section to be built, including a level crossing with a standard gauge railway. It also meant reducing the gauge to 900 mm, which is the gauge of the tram network in Linz. Today it is known as line number 50, starting at the stop “Hauptplatz” For those who didn’t know, an adhesion railway relies on solely on the contact between the rail and metal wheels of the train to provide traction and braking power. This can be quite challenging in slippery conditions, which is why funiculars and rack and pinion railways are common wherever steeper climbs are involved. The Bernina railway is already noted as being one of the steepest adhesion railways in the world, with it’s 70 promille ramps, but that doesn’t seem like that much anymore when compared to 116 permill. The Pöstlingbergbahn has been mastering this challenge with technical sophistication for many years. So you might be asking how a train like this brakes when it is slippery. The old trains were equipped with rail brakes, that were like a clamp on sides of the rail head. Today’s trams have magnetic rail brakes, which drop down and stick to the rails. Special thanks to LINZ AG for going out of their way to allow me to film. If you’re ever in Linz - the Pöstlingbergbahn is a must! More Information at https://www.poestlingbergbahn.at There is a tramway in Portugal's capital with a steeper gradient, however it is not an ongoing gradient as with the Pöstlingbergbahn. I hope you enjoyed the video. If you'd like to support the channel, please click the following link. Contributions will be used for equipment and software in order to bring you higher quality videos. https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr... Thanks for watching and have a great day! This video is copyrighted and may not be reuploaded, edited, used or distributed on youtube or outside of this platform without my written consent. If anybody is passionate about trains and interested in sharing their cab rides on this channel, please contact me on the about section of this page.