Tarvisio–Ljubljana Railway

The Tarvisio–Ljubljana Railway (Slovene: Železniška proga Ljubljana - Jesenice) is a partially closed to traffic international railway line between Italy and Slovenia. It was opened in 1870 as part of the Austro-Hungarian Rudolfsbahn railway network. Today, only the Slovenian section between Jesenice and Ljubljana is still open to traffic, as part of the main line between Ljubljana and Villach in Austria; the cross-border section between Jesenice and Tarvisio has been closed to traffic since 1967 (Italian part) and 1969 (Slovenian part).

Tarvisio–Ljubljana Railway
The Lesce-Bled train station
Overview
Native name	Železniška proga Ljubljana-Jesenice
Status	partly opened to traffic
Locale	Slovenia, formerly Italy
Operation
Opened	14 December 1870 (1870-12-14)
Operator(s)	Slovenian Railways
Technical
Line length	64.5 km (originally 103.7 km)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in)
Electrification	3 kV DC
Operating speed	100 km/h (62 mph)
Route number	20

History

Construction and first years

In 1869, the Kaiserlich-königliche privilegierte Kronprinz Rudolf-Bahn Gesellschaft (KRB, Imperial and Royal privileged company of the Crown Prince Rudolf railway), that had been formed for the construction and operation of the Rudolfsbahn railway line from St. Valentin to Tarvisio, received the concession to build a railway line linking Tarvisio and Ljubljana. The projected railway would follow the Sava valley from Ljubljana to Assling (now Jesenice) and Kronau (Kranjska Gora), then reach Tarvisio through Fusine in Valromana.[1]

The railway line was opened on 14 December 1870.[2]

In the first years of service, the end station in Tarvisio was located in an area south-west of the current Tarvisio Boscoverde station. A new station, the current Tarvisio Centrale, was opened when the railway line from Villach was inaugurated in 1873, and the Ljubljana line was connected to it, leading to disaffection of the first station, who was then known as Alt Tarvis (Old Tarvisio).[2]

In 1884, following financial crisis of the KRB, the railway was nationalised. It was therefore operated by the Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways, who proceeded to modernise the line.[1]

In 1906, the station of Jesenice became a junction when two segments of the New Alpine Railways met there: the Bohinj Railway to Trieste and the Karawanks Railway to Villach. As the latter opened two months later, during a brief period, the trans-alpine trains from Villach to Trieste used the Tarvisio–Ljubljana line between Tarvisio and Jesenice.

Between the two World Wars

Following the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the railway was divided between Italy and the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Yugoslavia from 1929). The lined crossed the border near the station of Fusine Laghi. The end station of Tarvis, rebaptised Tarvisio Sobborghi, then Tarvisio Centrale by its new owner, the Italian State Railways (FS), became an international border station. Both passenger and goods traffic between Tarvisio and the border was operated by the National Railways of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, that would become the Yugoslav Railways (JDŽ), but the infrastructure were owned and managed by the FS. Beyond the border, the JDŽ had both ownership and operation of the line.[2]

After World War II

After World War II, and following the consequent closing of the Yugoslav border, traffic strongly decreased on the Italian segment of the line, and stopped completely in 1965. A presidential decree officially closed the line on 14 August 1967.[3] The tracks were removed in the 1980s. The Yugoslav segment between Jesenice and the border was officially closed in 1969. In recent years, part of the path in the Slovenian Upper Sava Valley has been reclaimed as a bicycle trail.

Characteristics and operation

The line was originally 103.7 km, from the railway station of Tarvisio Centrale to that of Ljubljana. The remaining part from Jesenice to Ljubljana is 64.5 km long. It is a single-track line, electrified with 3 kV DC. Only the short section between the Ljubljana Šiška marshalling yards and the Ljubljana railway station is double-track.

It is exploited by Slovenian Railways, the national railway operator of Slovenia. National passenger trains use the line between Ljubljana and Jesenice,[4] while international services carry on to Villach and Vienna Meidling railway station.[5]

References

1. Elmar Oberegger (2006). "Kronprinz Rudolf-Bahn". Eisenbahnngeschichte Alpen-Donau-Adria (in German). Elmar Oberegger. Archived from the original on 29 August 2006. Retrieved 17 July 2009.
2. Ufficio Centrale di Statistica delle Ferrovie dello Stato (1927). "Prospetto cronologico dei tratti di ferrovia aperti all'esercizio dal 1839 al 31 dicembre 1926". Trenidicarta.it (in Italian). Alessandro Tuzza. Retrieved 17 July 2009.
3. Rovelli Roberto (2008). "Ex - ferrovia Tarvisio-Fusine Laghi". Ferrovie Abbandonate. Associazione Italiana Greenways. Retrieved 17 July 2009.
4. http://www.slo-zeleznice.si/uploads/vozni-red-po-relacijah-2014/03_ljubljana_jesenice.pdf
5. http://www.slo-zeleznice.si/en/passengers/abroad/destinations/austria

Sources

• Atlante ferroviario d'Italia e Slovenia. Eisenbahnatlas Italien und Slowenien. Köln: Schweers + Wall, 2010. ISBN 978-3-89494-129-1
• Dietmar Rauter; Herwig Rainer (1998). Ein Verkehrsweg erschließt die Alpen, 2, Die Nebenbahnen der k.k.priv.Kronprinz Rudolf-Bahn (in German). Santk Peter ob Judenburg: Verlag Mlakar.
• Denis Carlutti, La ferrovia Tarvisio-Fusine-Jesenice.

External links

• Media related to Tarvisio–Ljubljana Railway at Wikimedia Commons

Tarvisio-Ljubljana Railway

from Villach 669.4 Tarvisio Centrale Pontebbana to Udine (old) Pontebbana from Udine (new) Tarvisio Boscoverde New Pontebbana to Villach 662.5 Fusine in Valromana 660.6 Fusine Laghi Italy / Slovenia 658.2 Ratece 652.6 Kranjska Gora 648.2 Gozd 640.0 Dovje-Mojstrana 633.3 Hrušica from Villach/Klagenfurt 630.2 Jesenice to Trieste 627.4 Slovenski Javornik 622.3 Žirovnica 617.3 Lesce Bled 610.6 Globoko 608.2 Otoče 605.3 Podnart from Naklo 594.5 Kranj 585.7 Škofja Loka 582.1 Reteče 578.2 Medvode 575.3 Medno 572.1 Ljubljana Vižmarje from Kamnik 570.1 Ljubljana Stegne 568.8 Litostroj 567.3 Ljubljana Šiška Line from Trieste (former Austrian Südbahn) 565.7 Ljubljana Line to Dobova and to Maribor (former Austrian Südbahn)