Description of the journey

The Flåm Railway is Northern Europe's steepest standard gauge adhesion track. Adhesion track means that no gears or cables are used for traction.

The gradient on most of the railway line is 55‰ - that is, 1:18. Up the winding valley there are many tight curves, with a curve radius down to 130 meters - something that is very low on normal tracks.

The Flåm Railway winds its way through some of the most dramatic fjord and mountain scenery in Norway. From Flåm station by the Aurlandsfjord the line follows the Flåm river at the bottom of the valley until you pass Lunden station.

Here the line starts to climb up the side of the valley, which provides a great view of the old Flåm town center. After the Furuberg tunnel, you'll see the spectacular Rjoandefossen waterfall on the other side of the narrow The Flåm Valley.

The railway line then crosses the valley on a large embankment. Here the river has been tunneled. On the left you can now see the Ryo, Holo and Geisme mountain farm clinging high up on the mountainside.

Further up the valley you can also see the Vidme mountain farm. Before that you reach Berekvam station, where there may be crossings with oncoming trains during the summer.

Norways Best/ Sverre Hjørnevik

After Berekvam, the valley gradually narrows until the line is pressed into the hogged hillside close to the rapids of Flåmselvi. The line then passes through a number of short tunnels before crossing the river again on an embankment. The view is now on the right side while the line once again gains height above the bottom of the valley. Between two long tunnels, there is a view down to the farm at Kårdal and Kårdalsfossen.

After the longest tunnel on the route (the Nåli tunnel), the line has literally climbed up the steep mountainside. From here, you can see how the route will continue to climb up the mountainside further ahead, with snow superstructures on three levels. At the top you can glimpse the Bergen Railway. You can also see how Rallarvegen zigzags its way up Myrdalsberget.

You barely have time to take this in before a new highlight awaits - Kjosfossen. Here the train stops for a few minutes so you can get off the train. On some days, the flow of water is so great that you can feel the water from the waterfall against your face!

The section after Kjosfossen was the most demanding to build on the entire stretch. The solution was to build a tunnel with a 180-degree turn inside the mountain, to distribute the gradient. One of the eye-catching features is the view out from the snow superstructure and down Flåmsdalen on the right-hand side.

In the next moment there's a view through a gap in the rock on the left-hand side. When you emerge from the tunnel, you have reached the Reinunga mountain plateau and Lake Reinungavatnet. This is the source of Kjosfossen waterfall. Once again, the railway line takes a sharp 180-degree turn, but this time it's not in a tunnel.

Norway's Best / Chris Baldry

When the train stops at Vatnahalsen station, there are two-levels of railway lines almost vertically below it in the mountain.

You get another brief glimpse of the view down Flåm Valley, as well as the starting point for the Flåm Zipline. This is the longest zipline in Northern Europe, which takes you on an aerial flight all the way down to Kårdal.

However, this is one of the last things you'll see on the trip, as most of the few remaining minutes on the journey to Myrdal are in tunnels or snow shelters.

Myrdal is the terminus of the Flåm Railway, but you can change trains to travel on with the Bergen Railway. Myrdal was once a lively hamlet with a number of permanent residents and its own school, but nowadays it's mostly vacated.