Мариацельская железная дорога: История и современность

The Mariazell Railway (Mariazellerbahn) is an electrically operated narrow gauge railway (with a track gauge of 760) which connects the Lower Austrian capital of Sankt Pölten with the Styrian pilgrimage centre of Mariazell. The line was opened in stages between 1898 and 1907, and had a, now closed, branch to Wieselburg an der Erlauf. The railway is operated by NÖVOG, which is owned by the provincial government, and is a part of the Verkehrsverbund Niederösterreich Burgenland (Lower Austria and Burgenland Transport Association).

The pilgrimage center of Mariazell was one of Austria Hungary's most visited places by foreigners in the 19th century. Much thought was already being given to building a railway from St. Pölten to Mariazell even at the time when the Westbahn, from Vienna to Linz via St. Pölten opened in 1858. Many variations on the idea of extending the standard gauge line through the Lower Austrian foothills of the Alps were considered. Only after the Lower Austrian State Railway Law was passed in 1895 did work begin on the project. Owing to the difficult terrain that the railway would have to cross, it was decided to build it to a narrow gauge. The gauge of 760, as with all narrow gauge railway undertakings in the Danube Monarchy, was made necessary by the military administration. Rolling stock used in military service on railways in Bosnia and Hercegovina was 760 gauge and would need to be brought in. The railway's alignment would be built to a minimum curve radius of 80 m. In 1896, building work by the Lower Austrian State Railway Office began with acting director Engineer Josef Fogowitz in charge. The mainline from St. Pölten to Kirchberg and the branch to Mank were opened on 4 July 1898; the operators were the state's own Lower Austrian State Railways. For the opening of these lines, the Lower Austrian State Railways bought four U Series steam locomotives, already proven on the Murtalbahn. The locomotives along with the two axle passenger coaches and goods wagons, which were customary at the time, formed the railway network's basic equipment. The fleet was filled out in 1903 by two axle light steam powered railcars, which took over less used trains. As of 1902, building was continued and in 1905, the stretch through the Pielach valley as far as Laubenbachmühle and the branchline extension to Ruprechtshofen were completed. For the opening of this extension, and in anticipation of the further extension (the "mountain line") to Mariazell, a compound steam engine and a superheated steam engine were acquired as further developments of the U series. In 1906, the Mariazell extension was sufficiently complete for freight traffic to be worked through to the terminus. On 2 May 1907, passenger service to Mariazell began running. That same summer, the final main line extension to Gußwerk was brought into service.

The Mariazellerbahn begins at the St. Pölten Hauptbahnhof railway station. Right after leaving the station, the line passes through a tunnel under the Leobersdorfer Bahn, another railway serving St. Pölten. The Alpenbahnhof that comes right after that was, until the construction of the new Laubenbachmühle operating centre, the railway's main operational center. The rolling stock sheds, workshops, and extensive freight facilities are now largely used for storing surplus rolling stock. Next, the railway quickly leaves the town and passes through hilly, farmed land for the first few kilometers, south of St. Pölten from the Traisen valley into the Pielach valley. The route quickly reaches the biggest station on the line at Ober Grafendorf, which includes the junction with the abandoned branch line. The mainline follows the Pielach valley through Hofstetten Grünau, Rabenstein an der Pielach, the main center in the valley, Kirchberg an der Pielach, and on to the station at Loich, which was once of special importance to freight operations. The tunnel further along was built with only the railway's own loading gauge in mind, making freight transport by transporter wagons impossible. From here, the valley narrows considerably, and shortly before the next station, Schwarzenbach an der Pielach, the line passes through the Weißenburgtunnel, thereby leaving the Pielach valley and coming out into the Nattersbach valley, which narrows rather like a gorge. The line reaches first Frankenfels, and then the station at Laubenbachmühle. The large new station and depot at Laubenbachmühle, designed to blend into the surrounding landscape, is now the line's main operating centre. It also marks a change in the nature of the line, which after this point is known as the "Mountain Line" (Bergstrecke).

From Laubenbachmühle, an elongated double horseshoe curve climbs out of the Nattersbach valley. After passing by stations at Winterbach and Puchenstuben, the line reaches the longest tunnel, the 2 km long Gösingtunnel, which with an altitude of 891.6 m above sea level is the line's highest point. The line exits the tunnel into the Erlauf valley, which it then follows until just before the end. After the tunnel comes Gösing station, about 350 m above the settlement of Erlaufboden. The 1893 meter high Ötscher is visible from here. This panorama and the ease of reaching the spot on the newly built railway led to the building of a hotel just across from the station when the railway was first opened. From there, the railway follows a wooded, steep mountain ridge on a slight downhill gradient. It passes over the Saugrabenviadukt, the railway's highest viaduct, and reaches Annaberg station on the saddle. Just beyond the Lassing Reservoir, which feeds the Wienerbruck power station, lies Wienerbruck Josefsberg station, a favorite starting point for hikes into the Ötschergräben, steep sided, wooded gorges. After a loop around the lake, the line meets the Erlauf River. This stretch of the line is said to be the railway's greatest highlight for those with great romanticism for the wild: In between, along a row of short tunnels, the traveller gets a look into the Zinken ("tines"), as the craggy Erlauf gorge is called here. The halt at Erlaufklause is the last stop in the province of Lower Austria. The next stop, at Mitterbach am Erlaufsee, is in the province of Styria. This is followed by Mariazell station, the terminus of the line. Whilst this station serves the pilgrimage center of Mariazell, it is actually located some north in the municipality of Sankt Sebastian. Connection is made here with the Museumstramway Mariazell Erlaufsee, a standard gauge heritage steam tramway that operates to the nearby Erlaufsee. The Mariazell line formerly continued to Gußwerk, which was used mostly for freight traffic to a large sawmill. It has been out of service since 1988, and the tracks were torn up in 2003. Museumstramway Mariazell Erlaufsee is planning to take over a short part of the right of way for a project to build a tram line from the railway station into town.

The now largely closed branch line was known to locals as the Krumpe (Lower Austrian dialect form of the word krumm, meaning "crooked" in German), as a reflection of its indirect nature. It left the main line at Ober Grafendorf and was an unelectrified branch that lead through the foothills of the Alps in a roughly westerly direction by way of Kilb, Mank, Sankt Leonhard am Forst, Ruprechtshofen and Wieselburg an der Erlauf to Gresten. At Wieselburg an der Erlauf, it met and crossed the standard gauge Erlauf Valley Railway between Pöchlarn and Kienberg Gaming. The stretch of the line between Wieselburg an der Erlauf and Gresten still exists as a standard gauge line, having been regauged in 1998 in order to better feed freight traffic onto the Erlauf Valley line. The line from Ober Grafendorf to Wieselburg an der Erlauf still exists but is not in use. The section from Ober Grafendorf to Mank was the last part of the line to see narrow gauge trains, but has not been used since 2010. There are plans to convert this latter section into a heritage railway.

On 26 June 2018, a Himmelstreppe unit was derailed at St. Pölten. Thirty people were injured, three seriously.