Brno – Česká Třebová railway line

Brno hlavní nádraží – Česká Třebová
Course book series (SŽDC) :	260
Route length:	90.108 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Route class :	D4
Power system :	Brno – Svitavy: 25 kV 50 Hz ~ Svitavy – Česká Třebová: 3 kV  =
Top speed:	140 km / h
Legend from (Vienna–) Břeclav (formerly KFNB ) from Přerov (formerly KFNB ) Connecting track from odb. Brno-Černovice 155.770 Brno hlavní nádraží 156.750 odb. Tišnovská Connecting railway to odb. Posvitavská (formerly StEG ) Brno dolní n. – Tišnov (formerly StEG ) from Brno dolní nádraží (formerly StEG ) 158.180 Brno- Židenice ( odb. ) (Re-alignment 1953) 159.780 Husovice to Havlíčkův Brod 160.403 Brno- Maloměřice Freight train track to Havlíčkův Brod 160.980 Brno- Obřany 164.400 Bílovice nad Svitavou 168.800 Babice nad Svitavou 171.191 Adamov 172.400 Adamov zastávka 178.740 Blansko 179.900 Blansko město 182.900 Dolní Lhota 185.317 Rájec-Jestřebí 188.700 Doubravice nad Svitavou von Chornice (formerly Skalitz-Boskowitz – Großopatowitzer LB ) 194.184 Skalice nad Svitavou 196.600 Svitávka 199.400 Zboněk 201.000 Letovice zastávka 203,520 Letovice 209.500 Rozhraní former Protectorate border (1938–1945) 212.000 Moravská Chrastová 213.237 Březová nad Svitavou 216.000 Dlouhá - Hradec nad Svitavou 226.700 Svitavy-Lány 228.109 System separation point 25 kV / 3 kV 229.357 Svitavy to Žďárec u Skutče (formerly LB Zwittau – Polička) Svitavy-Lačnov 235.756 Opatov 239.500 Semanín former protectorate border (1938–1945) from Olomouc 245.878 Česká Třebová to Praha

The Brno – Česká Třebová railway is a double-track, electrified main line ("celostátní dráha") in the Czech Republic , which was originally built and operated as part of the Imperial and Royal Northern State Railway (Brno – Bodenbach). It runs in Moravia from Brno to Česká Třebová ( Bohemian Trübau ). The route is part of the Pan-European Transport Corridor IV and TEN Corridor No. 22 (Athens − Nuremberg / Dresden).

history

Prehistory and construction

Network of the Imperial and Royal Northern State Railways

Tunnel between Brno and Blansko

The construction of the line began in 1843 near Obřany near Brno. The route in the narrow and winding Svitavka valley between Brno and Blansko, where a total of eleven tunnels had to be built, was difficult. The construction of this section was entrusted to the experienced Italian company Felix Tallachini .

The original, initially single-track line was officially opened on January 1, 1849.

In the operation of the Austro-Hungarian state railway company

→ Main article : Austro-Hungarian state railway company

A train with a footbridge I near Adamov u Brna (around 1893)

The Austro-Hungarian State Railroad Company (StEG) was founded in 1854 with French capital. In January 1855, it took over the concessions for the Northern and Southeastern State Railways as well as for other state railway lines in Hungary from the Austrian state . Despite the resistance of the KFNB, the StEG sought both a direct connection to the capital Vienna and both subnets with each other. This goal was achieved in 1870. From now on, the route between Brno and Böhmisch Trübau was part of a continuous north-south connection of the StEG, which from 1878 reached to the then Hungarian-Romanian border near Orșova .

In 1861, the line received a Morse code telegraph for train safety, and express train services began a year later. The two-track expansion was completed in 1869.

On October 15, 1909, the StEG was nationalized. The route Brno – Böhmisch Trübau belonged to the network of the kk state railways kkStB.

In the First Republic

The motorized railcar "Slovenská strela" operated between Prague and Bratislava

After the First World War , which Austria-Hungary lost , the line became the property of the newly founded Czechoslovak State Railways (ČSD). It was now part of the important national long-distance connection between Prague and Bratislava .

The 1919 timetable included six continuous passenger trains, with others running on partial routes. The shortest journey time over the 91-kilometer route was one hour and 44 minutes in the express train with four intermediate stops.

Between 1936 and 1939 a motorized multiple unit operated as Slovenská strela between Prague and Bratislava.

After the Sudetenland became part of Germany on October 1, 1938, the line between Chrastavec and Česká Třebová came under the administration of the Deutsche Reichsbahn , Reichsbahndirektion Breslau . In the imperial course book the connection was included as course book route 154t Mährisch Schönberg – Triebitz – Brüsau-Brünnlitz – Mährisch Chrostau . The wagons were locked between Zwittau and Lundenburg so that it was impossible to get on or off while driving through the Protectorate. Only in Brno was there an intermediate stop. After the end of the Second World War on May 8, 1945, the line came back to the ČSD.

After the Second World War

After the Second World War, the route soon regained its traditional importance in international traffic. The most important long-distance trains in the 1958/59 timetable were the “Slovenska strela” (Praha – Bratislava), “ Balt-Orient-Express ” (Berlin– Sofia ) and “ Pannonia-Express ” (Berlin – Sofia) trains . The travel time of the fastest train between Brno and Česká Třebová was around an hour and 35 minutes.

After the completion of the new Brno – Havlíčkův Brod line in 1953 and its electrification by 1966, the line largely lost its national importance. The 1975/76 timetable only showed a few long-distance trains. Two pairs of trains ran on the Liberec – Brno route. The only international train was the “Amicus” night train from Prague to Budapest with through coaches to Split . Local trains ran about every hour without a fixed frequency.

The expansion of the line as part of the "First Railway Corridor" project

First railway corridor (První železniční koridor) Děčín – Praha – Brno – Břeclav

Contact line with portal masts near Bílovice nad Svitavou (2009)

On January 1, 1993, in the course of the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the line was transferred to the newly founded Czech state railway organization České dráhy (ČD).

Between 1992 and 1998, the line was extensively expanded as part of the “First Railway Corridor” project. In addition to the renewal of tracks and systems, the line was electrified throughout. Since then, the system separation point between the 3 kV direct current system in the north and the 25 kV alternating current system in the south has been not far from Svitavy .

After the completion of the construction work, the national long-distance traffic came back on the route. In the 2011 timetable there is a dense cycle timetable for both local and long-distance traffic . Eurocity and Intercity trains run every hour without stopping. You need 63 minutes for the 91-kilometer route, which corresponds to a cruising speed of 87 km / h. Local trains run every hour on the Brno – Letovice route. They are integrated as line S2 in the local transport system of the Verkehrsverbund Südmähren (IDS JMK). The Letovice – Česká Třebová route is served every two hours.

Vehicle use

From 1966, goods traffic was handled with the heavy Soviet large diesel locomotives of the ČSD series T 679.1 (ČD 781). Their use ended on October 21, 1995. At the beginning of the 1970s, the two test locomotives of the T 679.2 series could also be seen in front of the freight trains. The four-axle mainline diesel locomotives of the ČSD series T 478.3 (ČD 753) were used in passenger train traffic between 1975 and 1999 .

Since the continuous electrification of the line, the operation has primarily been carried out with electric locomotives, which can be used under both power systems in the Czech Republic. The exception is local transport between Brno and Letovice , where electric railcars of the ČD series 560 are used.

On October 20, 2005 a "Pendolino" of the ČD series 680 traveled the route for the first time . Since December 14, 2008, some of the high-quality long-distance trains on the Vienna-Prague route have also been carried by the Austrian locomotives of the ÖBB class 1216 . The new ČD class 380 locomotives have also been in service in front of some trains since 2010, and the Railjet from 2014 .

• 

  ČD series 560 (2010)

• 

  ZSSK series 350 (2010)

• 

  ČD series 362 (2010)

• 

  ČD series 380 (2010)

• 

  ÖBB class 1216 (2010)

Web links

Commons : Railway line 260 (Czech Republic)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• (Praha -) Česká Třebová - Brno on zelpage.cz

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Zdeněk Hudec u. a .: Atlas drah České republiky 2006–2007 , 2nd edition; Publishing house Pavel Malkus, Praha, 2006, ISBN 80-87047-00-1
2. ↑ 1919 timetable of the ČSD
3. ^ Reich course book 1944 - valid from July 3, 1944 until further notice; Course book range 154t
4. ↑ ČSD winter timetable 1958/1959
5. ↑ ČSD winter timetable 1975/1976
6. ↑ SZDC 2011 timetable