The Stuttgart tram/metro system is now mostly standard gauge but it includes one isolated 2.2km/1.4 mile metre gauge rack section. As Stuttgart is in a fairly deep valley, it has to climb 205m / 673ft in this distance, giving with a maximum gradient on the public section of 17.5%. I commuted to college on this line for two years between 2016 and 2018; I can't think of a more pleasant way to commute into a city than cycling through a forest then trundling downhill on a rack railway with a view of the city.
The line is getting new trams, which it really rather needed, with low floor access and enlarged bike carrying capacity; here's the new tram on a test run with the old trams also running the passenger service. (No commentary)
The cycle capacity will be very welcome because the tram takes bikes all day including peak hours. The city has made a bike friendly route from the centre to
Marienplatz, the lower terminus, from the city centre, and I've known the bike queue to be so long that I had to wait for two trams before I was able to carry my bike uphill. This was also because there are several downhill cycling routes here and the bikers use the tram to get back up again.
After dealing with this for a week commuting to college I changed tactic: I locked my bike to the railing we pass at 6:42 in the video, and caught the tram from there. The bike was never touched in two years which I suspect is testament to how wealthy people are in this corner of Stuttgart.
This also meant I'd walk past the depot after getting off the tram as well; it was a couple of hundred metres further to walk but avoided the noisy main road from the terminus in Marienplatz.
