The Semmering Railway has a track length of 41 km, with the distance between the two end points as the crow flies is only 21 km. It overcomes a height difference of 459 m from Gloggnitz to the vertex and 271 m from Mürzzuschlag. The vertex is located at 898 m above sea level. A. The route is characterized by 14 tunnels (including 1,434 m of the old and 1,512 m of the new Semmering tunnel), 16 viaducts (several of which are two-storey) and over 100 arched stone bridges and culverts. At almost 60% of the total length, the slope is at least 20 ‰, with peaks of 28 ‰. The route is only half straight (22.4 km), the other half (20.4 km) in arches, with 16% of the route have the narrowest arch radius of 190 m. Most of the route leads along mountain slopes, side valleys are bridged with viaducts.
The Semmering Railway is a section of the Southern Railway in Austria. It runs from Gloggnitz over the Semmering to Mürzzuschlag. It was the first standard gauge mountain railway in Europe, was planned by Carl von Ghega and opened in 1854. Track and locomotive construction of the Semmeringbahn are considered milestones in railway history. Since 1998 it belongs to the UNESCO world cultural heritage.