About this journey

The journey begins at Linz Hauptbahnhof, a station that first opened in 1858 as part of the Empress Elisabeth Railway's Western Railway from Vienna and today handles 40,800 passengers daily, making it the busiest station in Austria outside Vienna. From here, the Pyhrn railway line runs 104.2 kilometres south to Selzthal, taking its name from the Pyhrn Pass that marks the line's defining geographical challenge.

Leaving Linz, the route follows three successive river valleys in turn — first the Krems, then the Steyr, then the Teichl — descending deeper into the Austrian uplands with each change of watercourse. The S4 service of the Upper Austria S-Bahn runs hourly along the northern portion as far as Kirchdorf an der Krems, while Regional-Express trains cover the full length through to Selzthal. Near the southern end of the line, the route passes through the 4,767-metre Bosruck tunnel beneath the Bosruck mountain at the Pyhrn Pass — the crossing that gives the line its identity. Selzthal itself is a significant railway junction where the Pyhrn line meets both the Enns Valley Railway and the Rudolf Railway, bringing together routes from several directions. The journey moves from a major urban terminus, through a sequence of river-guided valleys, to a quiet alpine junction defined entirely by its connections.