The Pilatus railway (German: Pilatusbahn, PB) is a mountain railway in Switzerland and is the steepest rack railway in the world, with a maximum gradient of 48% and an average gradient of 35%. The line runs from Alpnachstad, on Lake Lucerne, to a terminus near the Esel summit of Mount Pilatus at an altitude of 2,073 m (6,801 ft), which makes it the highest railway in Obwalden and the second highest in Central Switzerland after the Furka line.