Bratislava – Budapest railway line
The Bratislava – Budapest line is an electrified main line in Slovakia and Hungary . It runs from the Slovak capital Bratislava ( Preßburg ) parallel to the Danube to the Hungarian capital Budapest . The route from Vienna to Budapest, which was once built as part of the Imperial and Royal Southeast State Railway , is one of the oldest railway connections in Hungary and Slovakia.
Today it is one of the most important railways in Europe. It is part of the Pan-European Railway Corridor IV , the main line of which extends from Dresden to Istanbul .
history
As in most European countries, railway construction began in Hungary in the middle of the 19th century. The Hungarian Central Railway began building a railway line that would connect the two most important cities in Austria and Hungary. The first section of this connection between Pest and Vác was put into operation on July 15, 1846. After the Marchegg – Preßburg line was completed on August 10, 1848, only the section between Preßburg and Vác was missing for a continuous rail line between Vienna and Pest. It was only after the nationalization of the Hungarian Central Railway in 1850 that the remaining line between Pressburg and Vác was completed. As the kk Südostliche Staatsbahn , the line was henceforth one of the most important routes in Austria-Hungary.
On January 1, 1855, the Southeastern State Railroad and the Imperial and Royal Nördliche Staatsbahn were sold to the State Railroad Company StEG, which was private despite its name . In 1891 the Hungarian part of the StEG was nationalized and the whole line came under the ownership of the Hungarian State Railway MÁV. It has been two-pronged throughout since 1904. From 1883 the Orient Express drove on its way from Paris to Constantinople or Bucharest on this route. During the First World War , the Orient Express had to cease operations and was replaced by the Balkan train from 1916 to 1918 . Its various train parts coming from Munich and Berlin were combined in Galanta and led together to Budapest and on to Istanbul.
After the First World War, Hungary had to cede its northern parts of the country to the newly founded Czechoslovakia . This again changed the ownership structure for part of the route. The section between Pressburg and the new state border at the Ipeľ ( Eipel ) was henceforth in the route network of the Czechoslovak State Railways ČSD. The line continued to be part of one of the most important connections between Western Europe and Hungary, even though most of the trains between Vienna and Budapest were moved to the parallel connection with the Eastern Railway via Hegyeshalom . Only the Orient Express remained on the route via Bratislava until 1938 due to the contracts concluded with CIWL .
The route retained its importance in the Eastern Bloc that was established after 1945 . Much of the long-distance traffic between the Central European states of the GDR, Poland and Czechoslovakia and the Balkans used the route, including long-distance trains such as the Balt-Orient-Express , the Meridian or the Hungaria . The section from Bratislava to Štúrovo was electrified in 1969; In 1971 the cross-border section Štúrovo – Szob followed.
Route description
Starting from the Slovak capital Bratislava, the route initially runs north of the Great Schüttinsel through the Danube lowlands through Senec and Galanta . At Šaľa it crosses the Waag and continues towards Nové Zámky and Štúrovo . After crossing the Hron , it runs along the left bank of the Danube through the Danube Bend immediately behind the Slovak-Hungarian border at Szob and on via Vác to the Hungarian capital Budapest.
Web links / sources
- Details of the route (Slovak)