Bohinj Railway

Last updated
Jesenice–Nova Gorica–Trieste Campo Marzio
Bohinj Railway
Solkanski most cez Soco2.jpg
Solkan Bridge, the second-longest stone bridge in the world [1]
Overview
Line number
  • 70 (Austria)
  • 67 (Italy)
Technical
Line length129 km (80 mi)
Track gauge 1435mm
Electrification Villa Opicina–Trieste: 3 kV  DC
Operating speed80 km/h (50 mph) max.
Maximum incline 2,5%
Route map

Contents

km
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon BHF.svg
0.0
Jesenice
BSicon ABZgl.svg
BSicon HST.svg
2.6
Kočna
BSicon HST.svg
4.8
Vintgar
BSicon HST.svg
7.6
Podhom
BSicon BHF.svg
10.1
Bled Jezero
BSicon HST.svg
14.1
Bohinjska Bela
BSicon eHST.svg
Soteska
BSicon HST.svg
23.7
Nomenj
BSicon BHF.svg
27.9
Bohinjska Bistrica BSicon CARSHUTTLE.svg
BSicon BHF.svg
35.2
Podbrdo
BSicon HST.svg
40.4
Hudajužna
BSicon HST.svg
46.9
Grahovo ob Bači
BSicon HST.svg
50.4
Podmelec
BSicon BHF.svg
55.8
Most na Soči BSicon CARSHUTTLE.svg
BSicon HST.svg
64.1
Avče
BSicon HST.svg
69.9
Canale
Kanal
BSicon BHF.svg
73.2
Anhovo
BSicon HST.svg
75.9
Plave
BSicon HST.svg
86.5
Solkan
BSicon BHF.svg
89.1
Nova Gorica
BSicon ABZgr.svg
BSicon HST.svg
92.3
Šempeter pri Gorici
St. Peter
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to Gorizia Centrale
BSicon BHF.svg
95.7
Volčja Draga
BSicon HST.svg
97.1
Okroglica
BSicon BHF.svg
100.1
Prvačina
BSicon ABZgl.svg
BSicon HST.svg
101.4
Dornberk
BSicon HST.svg
103.2
Steske
BSicon HST.svg
106.3
Branik
BSicon BHF.svg
113.2
Štanjel
St. Daniel
BSicon HST.svg
117.3
Kopriva
BSicon HST.svg
119.8
Dutovlje
BSicon HST.svg
Kreplje
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BSicon CONTfq.svg
to Sežana (since 1948)
BSicon exBHF.svg
Repentabor
BSicon xZOLL.svg
19.466
BSicon exCONTgq.svg
BSicon exKRZo.svg
BSicon exCONTfq.svg
former Austrian Southern Railway (Section Šentilj–Trieste)
BSicon xABZg+l.svg
BSicon CONTfq.svg
BSicon BHF.svg
15.695
Villa Opicina
BSicon CONTgq.svg
BSicon ABZgr.svg
BSicon uexCONTgq.svg
BSicon uexSTRq.svg
BSicon TUNNEL1.svg
BSicon uexCONTfq.svg
BSicon eHST.svg
8.00
Guardiella
BSicon eHST.svg
5.00
Rozzol-Montebello
until 2003 [2]
BSicon tCONTgq.svg
BSicon KRZt.svg
BSicon tSTR+r.svg
BSicon eABZg+l.svg
BSicon exCONTf@Fq.svg
BSicon tSTR.svg
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon tSTRe.svg
BSicon ABZg+l.svg
BSicon STRr.svg
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon uexCONTl+f.svg
BSicon exlBHF-L.svg
BSicon KHSTe.svg
BSicon uexKBHFe-R.svg
0.799
Trieste Campo Marzio
km

The Bohinj Railway (Slovene : Bohinjska proga, Italian : Transalpina, German : Wocheiner Bahn) is a railway in Slovenia and Italy. It connects Jesenice in Slovenia with Trieste in Italy. It was built by Austria-Hungary from 1900 to 1906 as a part of a new strategic railway, the Neue Alpenbahnen, that would connect Western Austria and Southern Germany with the then Austro-Hungarian port of Trieste. The line starts in Jesenice, at the southern end of the Karawanks Tunnel; it then crosses the Julian Alps through the Bohinj Tunnel, and passes the border town of Nova Gorica before crossing the Italian border and reaching Trieste.

During the First World War, it carried the majority of Austrian military supplies to the Isonzo Front. Because of new political divisions in Europe, with the dissolution of Austria-Hungary into separate states in 1918 and the isolation of communist Yugoslavia after 1945, the railway decreased in importance during the twentieth century. However, Slovenia's accession to the European Union has created new prospects for the railway as a convenient passenger and freight route from Central and Eastern Europe to the port of Trieste.

Distinctive features of the railway are the 6,327.3-metre (20,759 ft) Bohinj Tunnel under 1,498-metre (4,915 ft) Mount Kobla and the Solkan Bridge with its 85-metre (279 ft) arch over the Soča River (the longest stone railway arch in the world).

Names

History

The political decision

In 1869, the Trieste Chamber of Commerce had sent a petition to the Emperor Franz Joseph, in which they argued that the opening that year of the Suez Canal would indubitably lead to further development of Trieste, the main port of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; therefore, a second railway line to Vienna or the northern parts of Austria would be needed to support increased maritime traffic, in addition to the existing Austrian Southern Railway. The discussion regarding the path that new railway would take was not easily settled, and led to a "nearly thirty year long war". [3]

Only by 1901 was this dispute settled. On 12 February of that year, the Minister for Railway Affairs of Austria Heinrich Ritter von Wittek brought a bill to the attention of the Imperial Council (the Austrian parliament) for the construction of and public investment in new railways. After approval by both chambers, the Emperor signed the bill into law on 6 June 1901. [4] Among other provisions, the law provided that the Karawanks and Wocheiner (now Bohinj) railways should be built by 1905 as main lines of the first rank. The cost of that railway was estimated at 103.6 million Kronen, by far the most expensive railway project in the law. That cost would be covered by the issue of government bonds.

To overhaul such a large project, the Minister named a Construction Director directly subordinate to him, the engineer Karl Wurmb. In 1905, both Minister Wittek and Wurmb were subjected to criticism in parliament regarding cost overruns incurred by the construction because of geological difficulties.

On the Austrian Littoral side of the route, the builders first faced more demanding work in Podbrdo. Giacomo Ceconi’s company started the exploratory shaft along the axis of the planned Bohinj Tunnel as early as 1900. The works on the rest of the route for the Bohinj Railway was subcontracted in spring 1903. The section between Podbrdo and Šempeter was divided into nine parts: construction of the first five sections from Podbrdo to Ajba was taken over by the Viennese company Brüder Redlich und Berger, and the remaining four sections to Šempeter were taken over by the Italian company Sard, Lenassi & Co incorporated in Gorizia for this project by the Italian engineer Giovanni Battista Sard of Turin. Construction of the section between Podbrdo and Grahovo was the most demanding: eight bridges, thirty-three culverts, and six tunnels had to be built because of avalanche slopes and watery terrain. The most important and still most admired structures along the entire Bohinj Railway are the Bohinj Tunnel, the Idrijca Viaduct at Bača pri Modreju, and the Solkan Bridge. [5]

Operation until 1945

After the First World War, the railway was separated to Yugoslavia and Italy as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. The border had been located in the middle of the Bohinj tunnel; Italy obtained the whole area of the Isonzo valley. In Italy, the new Solkan bridge was reconstructed in its original form. [6] The segment Villa Opicina–Trieste was until 1936 electrified with the 3000 V direct current.

Operation since 1945

In 1945, the border between Italy and Yugoslavia moved in the western direction; most parts of the Isonzo valley then belonged to Yugoslavia. Until 1948, the Kreplje–Sežana branch line was constructed; near Sežana it connects to the historical Austrian Southern Railway. This connection enables traffic between the Southern Railway and this line to avoid Italian territory altogether. At this time, the passenger service south of Kreplje ceased, terminating at Sežana instead of continuing into Italy. The original southern terminus, Trieste Campo Marzio, thereafter served only local passenger traffic, and entirely closed to passengers in 1960. Because of political isolation in Europe, the Bohinj Railway lost its importance from 1945 to 1990.

After the opening of the Koper Railway in 1967, services ran from Koper via the Karst Railway and this line into Germany or Austria. After the earthquake in Friuli in 1976, it was used as a detour for express trains. [7] Since the beginning of the 1990s, rail transport has been mostly via Pivka and Ljubljana, which caused the Soča corridor to decline significantly.

The accession of Slovenia and other states to the European Union in 2004 and to the Schengen area at the end of 2007 significantly increased rail traffic from large parts of Europe to the ports of Trieste and Koper, which are conveniently located especially for the Czech Republic, southern Germany, Slovakia, Austria, and Hungary, by abolishing border controls. Nevertheless, international passenger services on the Bohinj Railway did not resume.

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karawanks Tunnel (railway)</span> Railway tunnel in Austria and Slovenia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solkan Bridge</span> Arch bridge over the Soča River

The Solkan Bridge is a 219.7-meter (721 ft) arch bridge over the Soča River near Nova Gorica in western Slovenia. With an arch span of 85 meters (279 ft), it is the world's longest stone arch railroad bridge. It holds this record because later construction technology used reinforced concrete to build bridges. It was originally built to carry the Bohinj Railway in the time of the Vienna Secession, between 1900 and 1905, and officially opened in 1906.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jesenice railway station</span> Railway station in Jesenice, Slovenia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Podbrdo railway station</span> Railway station in Slovenia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austrian Southern Railway</span> Railway from Vienna to the Adriatic

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spielfeld-Straß–Trieste railway</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Črna Prst</span> Mountain peak in the Julian Alps

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References

  1. Gorazd Humar (September 2001). "World Famous Arch Bridges in Slovenia". In Charles Abdunur (ed.). Arch'01: troisième Conférence internationale sur les ponts en arc Paris (in English and French). Paris: Presses des Ponts. pp. 121–124. ISBN   2-85978-347-4.
  2. "Impianti FS". I Treni (255): 8. January 2004.
  3. Heinersdorff. Die k.u.k. privilegierten Eisenbahnen. p. 120.
  4. RGBl 1901/63 . In: Reichsgesetzblatt für die im Reichsrath vertretenen Königreiche und Länder, Year 1901, p. 201–207 (Online bei ANNO )
  5. https://www.tol-muzej.si/bohinjska-proga/en/03 [ bare URL ]
  6. Eduard Jordan. "Der Eisenbahnviadukt von Solkan/Salkano". bundesheer.at (in German). Bundesministrium Landesverteidigung. Archived from the original on 2022-09-28. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
  7. Pilgram: Das Weite suchen, S. 95

Literature