Bregenz Forest Railway

The Bregenz Forest Railway is a narrow-gauge heritage railway in Vorarlberg, Austria. It runs for just over five kilometres between Bezau and Schwarzenberg. The line uses the old track bed of a 35-kilometre route that once linked Bregenz on Lake Constance to the Bregenz Forest. The railway is run by a society founded in 1985 to preserve part of the line. Original rolling stock was lost, so the railway started with borrowed vehicles from other lines. A regauged trailer car from the Stubai Valley Railway arrived in 1987. The railway now operates with diesel and steam locomotives restored or borrowed from other railways. The first steam locomotive arrived in the early 1990s, followed by a restored Class U steam engine in 1993. Passenger coaches were built on old goods wagon chassis. Floods in 1999 and 2005 damaged parts of the line, but repairs were completed quickly. The route was shortened in 2004 when a section near Schwarzenberg was abandoned for road works. Visitors board at Bezau station and travel through quiet countryside to Schwarzenberg. The journey takes about twenty minutes each way. The railway runs on weekdays and weekends from spring to autumn. A small museum at Schwarzenberg station displays historic photographs and railway artefacts. The surrounding Bregenz Forest offers walking trails and views of the Alps. The railway provides a gentle way to explore the region’s history and landscape.