The steepest railway incline in Germany is on the Kasbachtal Railway as it runs from Linz-am-Rhein to Kalenborn. This standard-gauge railway is hauled by a 1950s Uerdinger Railbus engine along a 5.5 mile (8.9 kilometre) section of track that has an overall height difference of 984 feet (300m).

The steepest train in Germany in 2026 is the Bayerische Zugspitzbahn (Bavarian Zugspitze Railway), a spectacular cogwheel (rack) railway that ascends the country's highest mountain. From its base in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the train travels on standard tracks before engaging a specialized "rack-and-pinion" system to negotiate gradients as steep as 25% as it climbs toward the peak. The journey covers a height difference of nearly 2,000 meters, eventually passing through a 4.5-kilometer tunnel carved into the mountain rock before emerging at the Zugspitzplatt station (2,588 meters). From there, a final cable car takes passengers to the 2,962-meter summit. This railway has been an engineering marvel since it opened in 1930 and offers unparalleled panoramic views of the Alps across Germany, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland. While Germany has several steep mountain railways, the Zugspitzbahn remains the definitive record-holder for its sheer vertical gain and the extreme technical challenges it overcomes to reach the "Top of Germany."