The Tauern Railway Tunnel (German: Tauerntunnel) in Austria is the longest tunnel of the Tauern Railway crossing the main chain of the Alps. Currently, it has a length of 8.371 kilometres (5.201 mi). The highest point of the tunnel, which is also the highest point in all of the railway line, is at 1,226 metres (4,022 ft) above sea level. The tunnel's north entrance is at Böckstein in the valley of Bad Gastein in the state of Salzburg, while the south entrance is near Mallnitz in Carinthia.
The construction of the Tauern Railway Tunnel was first mooted during the late nineteenth century, although actual work on its construction was started in July 1902. The excavation was performed via a labour intensive process by a mostly Italian workforce overseen by the civil engineer Karl Wurmb. It was effectively finished during 1906, and formally opened three years later by Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria. While trains were initially operated by steam locomotives, the tunnel and wider line alike were electrified during the interwar period, after which it was almost exclusively operated by electric traction instead.
One particularly noteworthy service that has long used the Tauern Railway Tunnel was the Autoschleuse or Tauern Motorail car shuttle train service, launched amid the First World War, which carries motor vehicles between either side of the tunnel via specialised trains. Various road vehicles from buses and lorries to bikes can be carried upon cars designed to facilitate their rapid loading and unloading. On 12 August 1947, a bomb exploded under a British military train carrying 175 people from London to Villach in close proximity to the tunnel. Between 2000 and 2004, the Tauern tunnel underwent extensive renovation works, which included the shortening of the tunnel and the relocation of the northern entrance, the replacement of much of the rail infrastructure present, and new fire management systems being installed.
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