Last updated Railroad lines of Galicia before 1897
The Imperial and RoyalprivilegedGalician Railway of Archduke Charles Louis (German: k.k.priv. Galizische Carl Ludwig-Bahn, Polish: c.k. uprzyw. Kolej Galicyjska im. Karola Ludwika) was a privately owned railway company in the Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia operating during the time of the partitions of Poland in the second half of the 19th century. The company was managed by Prince Leon Sapieha, under a license granted to him by Emperor Francis Joseph I on 7 April 1858.
Once finished, the line crossed whole Galicia from west to east at the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, connecting the main urban centers of the province - Kraków, Tarnów, Rzeszów, Przemyśl, Lwów (Lemberg) and Tarnopol. It started in Kraków and ended at the border rail station of Podwołoczyska (today Pidvolochysk), where it was connected over Zbruch with railroads of the Russian Empire at Wołoczyska (Volochysk). Apart from the main, west-east line, the company also built several branch lines of secondary importance.
The company was formed from the privatization of the Austrian Eastern National Railway, whose asset west of Kraków were transferred to the Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway, while a 111 kilometer long line from Kraków to Dębica through Bochnia and Tarnów, along with a 5 kilometer branch line from Bieżanów (today a part of Kraków) to the salt mine in Wieliczka, was assigned to the newly created Galician Railway of Archduke Charles Luis.
In 1858 the company constructed another 5 kilometer branch line from Podłęże to Niepołomice and extended the main line 47 kilometers to Rzeszów. By 1859 the line was extended 37 kilometers to Przeworsk, 1860 - 50 kilometers to Przemyśl, and in 1861 reached the Galician capital of Lwów, another 100 kilometers east. By 1869 the line was extended 75 kilometers to Krasne and Złoczów, along with a 42 kilometers long branch from Krasne to Brody. In 1871 a 64 kilometers long segment was built to Tarnopol, followed by 53 kilometers to Podwołoczyska, on the border with the Russian controlled Podolia. In 1873 the branch to Brody was extended to Radziwiłłów in Russian controlled Volhynia.
By 1884 the company built a 150 kilometers long branch line from Jarosław to Sokal, and by 1887 a 110 kilometers long branch from Dębica through Sobów (today a part of Tarnobrzeg) forking to Rozwadów (today a part of Stalowa Wola) and Nadbrzezie (today in Sandomierz, which at the time was in Russian controlled Congress Poland), at the northern outskirts of Galicia, reaching a total length of 850 kilometers.
By the end of century the company had 175 steam engines, 345 passenger cars and 3755 freight cars. In 1892 the Galician Railway of Archduke Charles Louis was purchased by the Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways in accordance with the terms of the concession.
PKP railway line number 91
Today the Galician Railway of Archduke Charles Louis remains one of Poland's most important trunk lines. The line from Kraków to Medyka on the Polish-Ukrainian border is designated by the national railway infrastructure managerPKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe as Polish line number 91, the line has double tracks between Kraków and Przemyśl, is electrified along its entire length starting since the 1950 and finished in 1972.
After the soviet occupation of Eastern Galicia as a result of World War II the segment from Medyka to Lwów and beyond has been converted to Russian broad gauge along with almost all other lines in present day Ukraine, and remains as such as of 2022. This greatly limits interoperability with the European rail network, despite many low key efforts to improve the situation since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Poland however maintains one of the tracks from Medyka to the main railway station in Przemyśl (pl:Przemyśl Główny) at Russian gauge, designated separately as line number 92, which allows Ukrainian trains to reach the city.
PKP railway line number 25
The branch line from Kraków to Wieliczka is designated as line nr 109, it has a single track electrified along its entire length, today the line is used exclusively by electric multiple units forming part of the Kraków public transport system. The branch to Niepołomice was designated as line nr 113, all traffic on the line was suspended in 2000 and in 2005 the track was dismantled and a local road was built in its place, as of 2022 the current government of Poland is considering the construction of a new railway line from Kraków to Niepołomice along a different trail. The branch from Dębica to Nadbrzezie was in 1915, following the Russian occupation of Galicia at the beginning of World War I, connected with a branch line of the Iwangorodzko-Dąbrowska Railway to Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, constructed in Russian controlled Congress Poland in 1885, today along with a second branch of the same railway they form line nr 25 from Dębica to Łódź Kaliska. The segment from Sobów to Stalowa Wola is designated line nr 74. The branch Jarosław to Sokal is designated as line nr 101, diverting from the original route at Werchrata towards Hrebenne.
Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska, is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate culture featuring diverse architecture, folk costumes, dances, cuisine, traditions and a rare Lesser Polish dialect. The region is rich in historical landmarks, monuments, castles, natural scenery and UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Tarnów is a city in southeastern Poland with 107,498 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. From 1975 to 1998, it was the capital of the Tarnów Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east–west connection from Lviv to Kraków, and two additional lines, one of which links the city with the Slovak border. Tarnów is known for its traditional Polish architecture, which was influenced by foreign cultures and foreigners that once lived in the area, notably Jews, Germans and Austrians. The Old Town, featuring 16th century tenements, houses and defensive walls, has been preserved. Tarnów is also the warmest city of Poland, with the highest long-term mean annual temperature in the whole country.
Przemyśl is a city in southeastern Poland with 60,442 inhabitants, as of June 2020. In 1999, it became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it was previously the capital of Przemyśl Voivodeship.
Tarnobrzeg is a city in south-eastern Poland, on the east bank of the river Vistula, with 49,419 inhabitants, as of 31 December 2009. Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship since 1999, it had previously been the capital of Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship (1975–1998). Tarnobrzeg lies in the Sandomierz Basin, and directly borders the town of Sandomierz, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. Its history dates back to the year 1593, when it was granted Magdeburg rights, and belonged to the Tarnowski family. For centuries Tarnobrzeg remained a small town, which did not develop until the post-World War II period, when it became center of an industrial area, based on rich sulfur deposits.
Bochnia(listen) is a town of 29,405 inhabitants on the river Raba in southern Poland. The town lies approximately in halfway [38 kilometres (24 mi)] between Tarnów (east) and the regional capital Kraków (west). Bochnia is most noted for its salt mine, the oldest functioning in Europe, built in the 13th century, a World Heritage Site. Since Poland's administrative reorganization in 1999, Bochnia has been the administrative capital of Bochnia County in Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Before reorganization it was part of Tarnów Voivodeship.
The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, also known as Austrian Galicia, was a kingdom within the Austrian Empire, later Cisleithanian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, established in 1772 as a crownland of the Habsburg monarchy. It encompassed regions that were acquired by the First Partition of Poland. In 1804 it became a crownland of the newly proclaimed Austrian Empire. From 1867 it was a crownland within the Cisleithanian or Austrian half of the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. It maintained a degree of provincial autonomy. Its status remained unchanged until the dissolution of the monarchy in 1918.
Przeworsk is a town in south-eastern Poland with 15,675 inhabitants, as of 2 June 2009. Since 1999 it has been in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, and is the capital of Przeworsk County. The ancient Przeworsk culture was named after the town.
Dębica is a town in southeastern Poland with 44,692 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the capital of Dębica County. Since 1999 it has been situated in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship; it had previously been in the Tarnów Voivodeship (1975–1998). Dębica belongs to the historic province of Lesser Poland, and for centuries it was part of the Sandomierz Voivodeship.
The Battle of Przemyśl - a struggle for the control over the city of Przemyśl in former Austro-Hungarian Galicia and local river crossings on the San river, between Ukrainian and Polish militias and regular troops, from 2 to 12 November 1918, during the Polish-Ukrainian War.
In the summer of 1939, weeks ahead of the Nazi German and Soviet invasion of Poland the map of both Europe and Poland looked very different from today. The railway network of interwar Poland had little in common with the postwar reality of dramatically changing borders and political domination of the Soviet-style communism, as well as the pre-independence German, Austrian and Russian networks which the Second Polish Republic had partially inherited in 1918 after the end of World War I. The most important junctions in the Polish territory in summer of 1939 were:
Pilzno is a town in Poland, in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in Dębica County. It has 4,943 inhabitants as of 2018. It is located at the junction of important roads – West-East European E40 Highway, and National Road 73 to Jasło, but at the same time, it has no railroad station, even though in 1939 Polish government began construction of the Dębica – Jasło line, via Pilzno. The project was never completed.
Wojnicz is an ancient historic town in Tarnów County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship. In the early medieval period of the Polish state, it became one of the most important centres in the province of Lesser Poland, as part of the system of Dunajec river castles. It became the seat of a Castellan and prospered from the 13th century to the first half of the 17th century, being on an international trade route bordering Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. It had town and market rights, its church was raised to collegiate status with links to the Jagiellonian University in Kraków 64 km away.
Skwierczyńskiof Ślepowron is the surname of a Polish szlachta (nobility) family from Podlaskie. The knight family came to the parish of Paprotnia in the area of Drohiczyn most likely from Masovia during the settlement led by Janusz I of Warsaw in the second half of the 14th century, or when PodlaskieUn transferred under the Lithuanian rule of Vytautas in 1405, who continued the settlement of Polish knights from areas of Masovia, as well as Łęczyca Voivodeship and Kuyavia in Podlaskie which had been deserted by the invasions of the Teutonic Knightss and Yotvingianss.
Kraków Główny, in English Kraków Main, is the largest and the most centrally located railway station in Kraków, Poland.
Sandomierz Basin is a lowland, located in southeastern Poland, between the Lesser Poland Upland, Lublin Upland and the Western Carpathians. Its name comes from the historical city of Sandomierz, and the basin has a triangular shape with the size of around 15,000 km2 (5,800 sq mi). It is drained by the Vistula River, as well as its eastern tributary, the San. Among major cities located in the Sandomierz Basin are Dębica, Jarosław, Mielec, Przemyśl, Przeworsk, Rzeszów, Stalowa Wola, Sandomierz, Tarnobrzeg, and Tarnów.
Lviv Railways is a territorial branch company of Ukrzaliznytsia headquartered in Lviv.
The Galician Transversal Railway was a railway system, opened in 1884 in the province of Galicia (Austria-Hungary). It was a state-owned enterprise which ran from west to east, along northern side of the Carpathian Mountains.
The Imperial and Royal Eastern National Railway was a national railway company in the Austrian Empire. It was founded in 1850 for the purpose of developing the railway network in the crown land of Galicia and Lodomeria. The company relied on the base of the Kraków–Upper Silesia Railway, opened in 1847.
Mostyska II is a railway station in the village Mostyska Druhi, Yavoriv Raion in Lviv Oblast of Ukraine. It is part of the Lviv administration.
The 3rd Army was a field army-level command within the ground forces of Austria-Hungary during World War I. It was primarily active on the Eastern Front against the Russian Empire and in the Balkans against Serbia and Montenegro. Later on, the 3rd Army took part in some fighting on the Italian Front before returning to the eastern theater by 1917 to repulse the Kerensky Offensive. Its remaining units were merged with the 7th Army in January 1918.
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