Some of these lines haul commuters past glaciers every morning; others sell a seat as a once-in-a-lifetime splurge. Mountain passes, deserts, rainforest gorges and fjords all make the cut.
1Glacier ExpressSwiss panoramic train running about eight hours between Zermatt and St. Moritz across 291 bridges and the Oberalp Pass.
2Bernina ExpressRhaetian Railway route from Chur to Tirano in Italy over the Bernina Pass, part of a UNESCO World Heritage line since 2008.
3Rocky MountaineerDaylight-only rail tours through the Canadian Rockies between Vancouver, Kamloops, Banff and Jasper, launched in 1990.
4Flåm RailwayNorwegian branch line climbing 863 metres in 20 km from Flåm on the Aurlandsfjord to Myrdal, one of the steepest standard-gauge lines in the world.
5Bergen LineNorway's Oslo-to-Bergen railway, which crosses the Hardangervidda plateau and reaches 1,237 metres, with Finse station at 1,222 metres.
6West Highland LineScottish line from Glasgow to Mallaig and Oban whose Jacobite steam service crosses the Glenfinnan Viaduct.
7Trans-Siberian RailwayThe 9,289 km line from Moscow to Vladivostok, completed in 1916 and the longest railway line in the world.
8The GhanAustralian passenger train crossing the continent north to south between Adelaide and Darwin via Alice Springs, extended to Darwin in 2004.
9TranzAlpineNew Zealand train between Christchurch and Greymouth that crosses the Southern Alps at Arthur's Pass.
10Darjeeling Himalayan RailwayTwo-foot-gauge 'Toy Train' line opened from Siliguri to Darjeeling in 1881, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999.
11Cusco to Machu PicchuPeruvian rail route from Poroy near Cusco and Ollantaytambo through the Sacred Valley and the Urubamba gorge to Aguas Calientes, the base for Machu Picchu.
12California ZephyrAmtrak train between Chicago and Emeryville that crosses the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada over about 51 hours.
13GoldenPass ExpressSwiss through train launched in 2022 that links Montreux and Interlaken via Gstaad, changing track gauge at Zweisimmen.
14Jungfrau RailwaySwiss rack railway opened in 1912 that tunnels through the Eiger to Jungfraujoch, Europe's highest railway station at 3,454 metres.
15Settle–Carlisle RailwayEnglish line through the Yorkshire Dales and the North Pennines, known for the 24-arch Ribblehead Viaduct.
16Douro LinePortuguese railway from Porto that follows the Douro River through the port-wine terraces to Pocinho.
17Semmering RailwayAustrian mountain railway opened in 1854 over the Semmering Pass, the first railway inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1998).
18Kandy to EllaStretch of Sri Lanka's hill-country railway that joins the Colombo–Badulla Main Line at Peradeniya, just outside Kandy, and climbs through the tea estates to Ella.
19Coast StarlightAmtrak train between Seattle and Los Angeles that runs along the Pacific shoreline north of Santa Barbara.
20Qinghai–Tibet RailwayChinese line from Xining to Lhasa, completed in 2006, which crosses the Tanggula Pass at about 5,072 metres.
21Nilgiri Mountain RailwayIndian metre-gauge rack railway from Mettupalayam, opened in 1899 and extended to Ooty in 1908, part of the Mountain Railways of India World Heritage Site.
22Kuranda Scenic RailwayQueensland heritage line from Cairns up the Barron Gorge to the rainforest village of Kuranda, completed in 1891.
23White Pass & Yukon RouteNarrow-gauge railway built during the Klondike Gold Rush that climbs from Skagway, Alaska, to White Pass Summit.
24Durango & Silverton RailroadColorado narrow-gauge steam railroad running through the Animas River canyon since 1882.
25Tren a las NubesArgentine train from Salta province to the La Polvorilla viaduct at about 4,220 metres in the Andes.
26El ChepeMexican Chihuahua al Pacífico railway through the Copper Canyon, opened in 1961 with 86 tunnels and 37 bridges.
27Venice Simplon-Orient-ExpressBelmond luxury train using restored 1920s carriages, best known for its London and Paris to Venice route over the Alps.
28InlandsbananSwedish inland railway whose summer tourist train runs about 1,070 km from Mora to Gällivare, north of the Arctic Circle.
Photo credits
- Glacier Express — Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 2.5
- Bernina Express — Kabelleger / David Gubler, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Rocky Mountaineer — Cwojtun, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Flåm Railway — Karen, CC BY 2.0
- Bergen Line — Kabelleger / David Gubler, CC BY-SA 4.0
- West Highland Line — Kabelleger, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Trans-Siberian Railway train by Lake Baikal — Sorovas, CC BY-SA 3.0
- The Ghan — Tomoyn, CC BY 4.0
- TranzAlpine — Kevin Prince, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Darjeeling Himalayan Railway — LesBleusSoumya, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Cusco to Machu Picchu — egroj, CC BY 2.0
- California Zephyr — Braddah n8, CC BY 4.0
- GoldenPass Express — Falk2, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Jungfrau Railway — Kabelleger / David Gubler (http://www.bahnbilder.ch), CC BY-SA 3.0
- Settle–Carlisle Railway — David Ingham from Bury, Lancashire, England, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Douro Line — Kabelleger / David Gubler, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Semmering Railway — C.Stadler/Bwag, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Kandy to Ella — Chamal N, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Coast Starlight — Glenn Beltz from Goleta, USA, CC BY 2.0
- Qinghai–Tibet Railway — Jan Reurink, CC BY 2.0
- Nilgiri Mountain Railway — A.M.Hurrell (photo)No machine-readable author provided, CC BY 2.5
- Kuranda Scenic Railway — Lobster1, CC BY-SA 3.0
- White Pass & Yukon Route train — *~Dawn~*, CC BY 2.0
- Tren a las Nubes — Ministry of Transport of Argentina, CC BY-SA 2.0
- El Chepe — Robert FERREOL, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Venice Simplon-Orient-Express — patrick janicek, CC BY 2.0
- Inlandsbanan — Unknown author, CC BY 2.5
