Eight train rides where the railway takes centre stage
These eight railways do more than cross remarkable country. Their curves, tunnels, viaducts and gradients explain why the view looks the way it does, from a Norwegian fjord valley to the Canadian Rockies.
Myrdal to Flåm: down a Norwegian valley wall
The Flåmsbana descends from Myrdal to Flåm on ordinary adhesion rails, not a rack railway, for much of the way at gradients of 55‰ and through curves as tight as 130 metres. Snow galleries and short tunnels break up the upper valley. At Kjosfossen, the train pauses by the waterfall, then enters a tunnel that turns 180 degrees inside the mountain to gain room for the descent.
Openings in the rock show the railway at several levels, with the Bergen Line higher on the slope. Near Berekvam, mountain farms stand above the Flåmselvi and its rapids. Engineers built 20 tunnels and channelled the river beneath the railway where vulnerable bridges would have crossed it. The line reaches Flåm beside the fjord, completing a link that once connected the Bergen Line with Sognefjord steamships.
Chur to Tirano: arches, pass country and palms
The Bernina Express route combines the Albula and Bernina lines on a crossing of 196 bridges and 55 tunnels between Chur and Tirano. On the curved Landwasser Viaduct, rails cross a wooded gorge and run straight into a tunnel portal cut into the cliff. Masonry viaducts, spiral tunnels and loops gave steam trains a workable climb towards the Upper Engadin; regional trains still use the same lines.
Beyond Pontresina, the Bernina Line reaches open country around Ospizio Bernina and Lago Bianco. Near Alp Grüm, the route looks towards the Palü Glacier before dropping through Poschiavo. At Brusio, an open circular viaduct lets the train lose height in one broad loop without rack assistance. Roads and houses gather alongside the rails on the final run into Tirano, where palms replace the pass's snow and bare rock.
Glasgow to Mallaig: peat moor and concrete arches
From Glasgow Queen Street, the West Highland Line leaves the Clyde behind for Loch Long, wooded hills and Crianlarich. North of the junction, the train takes the Horseshoe Curve below Ben Dorain and crosses Rannoch Moor, where Corrour is the highest station on Britain’s main rail network.
After Fort William, the rails take the long curve of Glenfinnan Viaduct above Loch Shiel. Its 21 exposed concrete arches date from the extension built around 1900 to connect Glasgow with Mallaig’s fishing port; ScotRail trains and the Jacobite steam service use it today. Loch Eilt, Loch Ailort and Loch nan Uamh follow. Then come Morar’s sandy shore, Skye and Mallaig’s ferry harbour.
Belgrade to Bar: tunnels to the Adriatic
The Belgrade–Bar railway opened in 1976 to link Belgrade directly with the port of Bar, and passenger and freight trains still share the route. In Montenegro, the line rises beyond Bijelo Polje and Kolašin to more than 1,000 metres, then drops sharply towards Podgorica through a mountain corridor with 254 tunnels and 435 bridges.
Twenty kilometres north of Podgorica, the train runs from a tunnel onto the Mala Rijeka Viaduct. The single-track steel truss spans 498.8 metres on concrete piers and stands 198 metres above the river; short tunnels resume immediately beyond it. South of Podgorica, Lake Skadar replaces the enclosed mountains. The railway crosses the lake near the ruins of Lesendro, then heads through the Sozina Tunnel towards Bar and the Adriatic coast.
Kandy to Ella: tea country on tight curves
Sri Lanka’s Main Line was driven inland from 1864 to carry coffee to Colombo. After coffee rust damaged the plantations, tea became the line’s defining freight, which explains why the railway threads cultivated hill country rather than taking a direct route across the highlands.
The present through service from Kandy to Ella is interrupted, but trains run on the scenic Nanu Oya–Ella–Badulla section. Around Nanu Oya, tea estates cover the slopes. Near Pattipola, low cloud forest replaces them, and beyond Ohiya the line uses tunnels and narrow ledges on the mountain flanks. The railway remains a working passenger line for local and intercity travel.
The famous final piece lies beyond Ella. Nine Arches Bridge crosses a wooded ravine on arches built from local stone, brick and cement without steel reinforcement. At Demodara, the rails circle a hill and pass beneath themselves in a loop, a compact answer to a valley too narrow for a conventional reversing arrangement.
Christchurch to Greymouth: through the Southern Alps
The TranzAlpine starts across the farm country of the Canterbury Plains, then joins the Midland Line at Rolleston. Beyond Springfield, the track follows the Broken River and Waimakariri gorges, where steep banks required 15 short tunnels and four high viaducts, including the 73-metre Staircase Viaduct.
At Arthur’s Pass, the train enters the 8.5-kilometre Ōtira Tunnel, opened in 1923 beneath the main divide of the Southern Alps. West of the tunnel, the mountains hold back wetter weather, and forest thickens in the Ōtira valleys. River valleys and Lake Brunner carry the line onwards to Greymouth on the West Coast.
Chicago to Emeryville: a continent in stages
The California Zephyr crosses the plains from Chicago to Denver before the real railway contortions begin. West of Denver, it passes through the Moffat Tunnel beneath the Continental Divide and follows the Colorado River through Gore, Byers and Glenwood canyons, with rock walls and water pressed close to the tracks.
Utah brings dry, coloured country. In California, the train climbs beside the Truckee River and Donner Lake to cross the Sierra Nevada, then descends towards Sacramento, the Carquinez Strait and San Pablo Bay. The double-deck train includes a Sightseer Lounge with panoramic windows. It also runs daily and provides intercity transport for several small communities along the route.
Practical notes
The Flåmsbana and Bernina Express run year-round, although the Flåm timetable changes with the season; the Bernina Express requires a seat reservation in addition to a valid fare or pass. The West Highland Line has up to three daily Mallaig services, while Belgrade–Bar has day and night trains and requires reservations for couchettes or sleepers. Book the TranzAlpine, California Zephyr and Rocky Mountaineer ahead; the Rocky Mountaineer runs as a two-day daylight service from April to October, with an overnight stop in Kamloops.
Vancouver to Banff or Lake Louise: daylight over the Divide
Rocky Mountaineer’s First Passage to the West leaves Vancouver through the green Fraser Valley and enters the Coast Mountains along the Fraser River. At Hell’s Gate, the river churns through a narrow canyon below the line. The service stops overnight in Kamloops because it runs in daylight.
On the second day, Shuswap lakes, Rogers Pass and Kicking Horse Canyon lead towards the Rockies. Near the Continental Divide, two Spiral Tunnels work as underground hairpins, reducing a gradient that was too steep on the original transcontinental route. Glass-domed coaches and outdoor platforms keep the canyon walls and high slopes in view. Near Banff, Castle Mountain’s broad grey rock face rises above the final stretch of rails.