Railway record holders

The train: Lhasa express

Claim to fame: It’s the highest railway in the world

All aboard: You will need oxygen on this train. Not only because the view is breathtaking but because the view is a vertigo-inducing 5000 metres above sea level, so the train has oxygen on tap and UV filtered windows. For those keen on numbers, 80% of the track is at an altitude of more than 4000 metres, which accounts for 550km. The average speed is a swift 120km per hour, slowing down to 100km per hour when coasting on permafrost.

Fittingly, the highest train station in the world is also on this track at Tanggula, coming in at 5072 metres above sea level. You will look down upon plateaus of shaggy yaks that feed on the rich grass, fed in turn by the snow that melts from the capped mountains.

Starting at Qinghai, China and ending in Lhasa, Tibet this is a journey that would not be possible without modern day technology. The railway straddles many miles of frozen land and valleys that necessitate architectural scaffolding as wide as 13km. It should be impossible. But the Chinese built it in 2006 and it remains a record holding railway.

The train: Glacier Express

Claim to fame: It’s the slowest express train in the world with floor to ceiling windows for a panorama of the Swiss Alps.

All aboard: Chugging along at a leisurely 32 kilometres an hour, this train would want to be slow given the alpine terrain it conquers. The track starts at Zermatt, the town that rests at the foot of the Matterhorn, its prism shape making it the world’s most photographed mountain. Zermatt is a car free town so your best bet of getting anywhere is via the tracks. With four steep rock faces, each slope looks toward a compass point – east, west, south and north.

The Glacier Express takes you from east to west through the Rhine gorge past the Matterhorn and on to Davos, another iconic destination as the highest city in Europe. Passing the village of Reichenau you will have the best view of a cluster of castles. Switzerland’s oldest town of Chur is next on the itinerary, followed by the Landwasser viaduct which zooms across a canyon only to enter a tunnel that cuts through the middle of a mountain. The train trip ends at St Moritz, the playground of the rich and famous. Or you could reverse the trip and see all the above in rewind. There are also an impressive 291 bridges and 91 tunnels along the route.

The train: Darjeeling Himalayan toy train

Claim to fame: It’s the narrowest gauge and has the closest proximity between towns

All aboard: It might be faster to walk than to take a ride on this tiny novel train. After all, it runs on a tiny 60 centimetre wide rail gauge, so narrow that it puffs along roads, past shops and down town streets. For all intents and purposes, you may as well be walking given how close you get to the pandemonium that is India.

Running for 86 kilometres, the train starts at the low lying New Jalpaiguri, 100 metres above sea level and steams up to 2200 metres above sea level at the final stop of Darjeeling. The railway follows the quaintly named Hill Cart Road. The train must navigate between the bustle of shops, people and vehicles, so it is equipped with a loud horn that can sound continuously in busy areas. To really get attention though, the train has an ear piercing whistle that causes locals to stick their fingers in their ears.

This tiny phenomenon is a great way to witness Indian life unfazed and somewhat oblivious to the passing transport. People hang washing, sell vegetables and drink tea along the track despite the black soot smoke. You might also feel like you are taking one step back and two steps forward as the historic train employs a loop technique, moving forward then reversing in order to conquer steep hills.

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