About this journey

Spittal-Millstättersee station sits at the southern foot of the High Tauern range, where the Tauern Railway descends from the mountains to the Drava valley floor. That line was opened in 1909 as part of Austria-Hungary's 'New Alpine Railways' project, built to forge a direct corridor from the Adriatic coast northward — a strategic priority that had been pressing since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. The standard-gauge route is 79 km long and climbs the High Tauern range with a maximum gradient of 2.5%, making it one of the more demanding engineered railways in the region. The southern ramp through which this journey begins was constructed from 1906 under Viennese engineer Wilhelm Carl Gustav von Doderer. The entire line was electrified between 1933 and 1935.

From Spittal the service runs eastward along the Drava valley toward Lienz, the principal town of East Tyrol. This stretch follows the Drava Valley Railway, which ÖBB electrified at 15 kV 16.7 Hz AC between 1985 and 1989. The journey covers roughly an hour of valley running, arriving at Lienz station — a terminus that connects East Tyrol with the broader Austrian rail network. The contrast between the engineered mountain ramp at the journey's start and the open valley corridor leading into Lienz reflects the distinct geographic character of each end of this route.