Jesenice – Trieste railway line

Jesenice – Nova Gorica – Trieste Campo Marzio Wocheiner Bahn
Map of the Wocheiner Bahn and Karstbahn
Route number (RFI) :	67
Route number :	70
Route length:	144.8 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	Villa Opicina – Trieste: 3 kV  =
Maximum slope :	26.7  ‰
Minimum radius :	149 m
Top speed:	80 km / h
Legend German station names officially until 1918 from Rosenbach (Villach and Klagenfurt) Tarvisio – Ljubljana from Tarvisio 0.0 Jesenice in 1943 as Assling to Ljubljana (Laibach) Sava 2.6 Kočna 1943 as Assling Süd A2 4.8 Vintgar 1943 as Hart-Rothweinklamm Dobrava tunnel 50 m Radovna Vintgar tunnel 1,181 m 7.5 Podhom in 1943 as Buchheim 10.0 Bled Jezero Veldes, 1943 as Veldes Lake Bled (Veldeser) tunnel 189 m Sedlo (Sattelweg) tunnel 509 m Bela (Vellacher) tunnel 253 m 14.1 Bohinjska Bela in 1943 as Wocheiner Vellach Oberne tunnel 1,295 m Gallery I 167 m 18.7 Soteska 1943 as Wocheiner Klamm 23.7 Nomenj 1943 as Neuming 27.9 Bohinjska Bistrica Wocheiner Feistritz, 1943 as Feistritz-Wocheiner See Bohinj (Wocheiner) tunnel 6,327.4 m 35.2 Podbrdo in 1943 as Piedicolle Kuk tunnel 102 m Gallery II 43 m 40.3 Hudajužna Hudajužna tunnel 311 m Baca Kupovo tunnel 54 m Baca Humar tunnel 88 m Baca Baca Bukovo tunnel 937 m Baca Baca 46.9 Grahovo ob Bači, Tolmin municipality Baca Grahovo (Murgraben) tunnel 202 m Kneža tunnel 384 m Kneža Klavže tunnel, 170 m Baca 50.4 Podmelec Rakovec tunnel 292 m Baca Baca Bača tunnel 46 m 102 Idrijca 55.8 Most na Soči St. Lucia-Tolmein Most na Soči (St. Lucia) tunnel 619 m Dobročnik tunnel I 41 m Dobročnik Tunnel II 78 m Skrt tunnel 390 m Log tunnel 804 m Schlundbach Vogršček (Dogercek) tunnel 221 m Doblar tunnel 348 m Avče tunnel 341 m 64.1 Avče Auzza Gallery III 130 m Auzza Soča Isonzo Canal tunnel 175 m 69.9 Canale canal 73.1 Anhovo 75.8 Plave Zopatbach Plave tunnel 450 m Vrhulj (Babinzob) tunnel 348 m Gallery IV 143 m Gallery V 82 m Solkanski most (Salcanobrücke; 220 m) 86.8 Solkan de: Sollingen 89.1 Nova Gorica Görz Staatsbf Kostanjevica tunnel 228 m to Gorizia Centrale 92.3 Šempeter pri Gorici St. Peter 95.7 Volčja Draga Liak 97.1 Okroglica 100.1 Prvačina Vipava (Wippach) Wippachtalbahn (Slovenia) to Ajdovščina 101.5 Dornberk it: Montespino Tabor tunnel 155 m Vipava (Wippach) Vipava (Wippach) 103.2 Steske de: Smoking stone Kuk tunnel 107 m Maklavi 106.3 Branik de: Reifenberg , it: Rifembergo Branik tunnel I 119 m Branik tunnel II 199 m Branzca tunnel 170 m Štanjel tunnel 532 m 113.2 Štanjel St. Daniel, it: S. Daniele del Carso 117.3 Kopriva it: Copriva del Carso 119.8 Dutovlje it: Dtuttogliano 122.8 / 0.0 Kreplje it: Crepegliano to Sežana (since 1948) tunnel 2.1 Repentabor it: Monrupino 2.5 / 19.466 State border Slovenia - Italy tunnel former Austrian Southern Railway (section Šentilj – Trieste) from Ljubljana 15.695 Villa Opicina Opicina State Railway Station Connecting track to the former Opicina Südbf to Trieste Centrale Opicina tunnel 1,054 m Pischianzi tunnel 490 m Conconello tunnel 704 m 8.00 Guardiella Revoltella tunnel 1,280 m 5.00 Rozzol-Montebello until 2003 from Trieste Centrale from Trieste Aquilinia / from Erpelle / Parenzo Narrow Gauge Railway Trieste Campo Marzio Smistamento 0.799 Trieste Campo Marzio Trieste S. Andrea

Overview plan of the second connection with Trieste and the Pyhrnbahn , 1901 

Map of the main traffic routes from Carniola and the coastal area , 1910

Traffic situation Trieste, 1912

The Jesenice – Trieste railway line is a single-track main line in Slovenia and Italy , which was operated by Imperial Austria - the Imperial and Royal Railway Ministry was responsible - at the beginning of the 20th century as part of a large railway infrastructure project ( New Alpine Railways ) to connect western Austria and southern Germany with the port of Trieste was built.

It leads from Jesenice (Aßling) at the southern end of the Karawanken tunnel over the Julian Alps and Nova Gorica / Gorizia (Görz) to Trieste. The Wocheiner Bahn was the southernmost of the three sections of this project. To the north, the Karawankenbahn, also opened in 1906, to Villach and Klagenfurt (connection to the Drautalbahn Maribor / Marburg– Franzensfeste ) and the Tauernbahn from Villach to Salzburg, opened in 1909 (there were connections to the German rail network and the Austrian Western Railway ).

Names

• In German usage, both Wocheiner Bahn (for the Jesenice – Nova Gorica section) and Karstbahn (for the Nova Gorica – Trieste section) are common names. The railway construction project was officially referred to as the Karawanken and Wocheinerbahn in the 1901 law . New Alpine Railways was a general term that also included the Tauernbahn and Pyhrnbahn .
• In Slovene today, the route is usually called Bohinjska proga (Weekly Railway), this name refers to the valley and the village of the same name Bohinj .
• In Italy the route is known as Ferrovia Transalpina . To this day, the Italian part of the station square of Gorizia / Nova Gorica is called Piazza Transalpina .

history

Political mandate

In 1869 the Trieste Chamber of Commerce sent a petition to Emperor Franz Joseph I , in which it was pointed out that the imminent opening of the Suez Canal would also have an invigorating effect on sea trade with Trieste, which is why a second railway line towards Vienna and the northern parts of Austria was necessary . An “almost thirty years war” ensued over the choice of the route.

After these disputes over the route choice, Railway Minister Heinrich von Wittek introduced a bill to the Reichsrat , the parliament in Vienna, on February 12, 1901, which was accepted by both houses of the Reichsrat and sanctioned by the Emperor on June 6, 1901: the railway construction and Investment law, as a short summary of the long title of the law reads.

The law stipulated, among other things, that the Karawanken and Wocheinerbahn was to be built as the first-rate main line by 1905. Among the various construction projects of the state railway administration, which totaled 487,038,000 crowns (= 1.758 billion euros), this railway was by far the most complex project with an assumed cost of 103,600,000 crowns (= 374 million euros). The total cost should be covered by issuing bonds (government bonds).

For the Karawanken and Wocheinerbahn , the financial outlay in the individual budget years was calculated as follows:

1901: 3,700,000 K

1902: 8,900,000 K

1903: 17,400,000 K

1904: 37,300,000 K

1905: 36,300,000 K

In order for the contained in the law, unique in the history of Austrian railway construction to the present day railway construction offensive with several large, the same outstanding projects (. U a well. Tauernbahn , Pyhrnbahn , change track and route Lviv - Uzsokpass direction Hungary) to create the right organizational structure, ministers made Wittek on October 6, 1901 announces the establishment of the kk railway construction directorate directly subordinate to the minister, the head of which will bear the title kk section chief and railway construction director. He appointed Karl Wurmb as railway construction director . Minister Wittek and Construction Director Wurmb resigned in 1905 after parliamentary criticism of the cost overruns of the railway construction caused by geological problems.

construction

The line was built by 1906 (until 1905 under Wurmb's direction); For cost reasons, only the Wocheiner tunnel was built on two tracks. Even then, the building was referred to as the “child of pain” in railway construction. When the tunnel was being built, pieces of rock (“Knallgebirge”) and water ingress caused problems. One challenge for the alignment in the Trieste area was the sudden drop in the terrain from the karst plateau to the urban area just above sea level and the port facilities. To cope with this altitude level, the railway line leads in a wide arc and many small turns southeast around the city area. In addition, tunnels and inner-city bridges were required here. The tunnel breakthrough in the Wocheiner Tunnel took place on May 31, 1904 with Archduke Leopold Salvator ; the tunnel was completely finished on April 30, 1905. The next day, Minister Wittek was replaced in office by Ludwig Wrba .

South of the Görzer Staatsbahnhof (today: Nova Gorica ), the end point of the Wocheiner Bahn, eight kilometers of track of the 26 km long local railway ( Wippachtalbahn ) leading from Gorizia Südbahnhof (today: Gorizia Centrale ) to Haidenschaft were used in the first section of the Karstbahn . At the newly built station St. Peter (Šempeter pri Gorici), a track loop was laid, over which trains coming from the Wocheiner Bahn could be diverted to the Südbahn. When the Karst Railway was downgraded to the local railway (1932: passenger, 1945: freight), this transfer facility was given particular weight for express train traffic (to and from Trieste). 

The opening of Wocheiner wie Karstbahn took place on July 19, 1906 (despite the announced Pan-Slavic disruptions). Archduke heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este and Imperial and Royal Railway Minister Julius Derschatta von Standhalt (successor to Ludwig Wrba since June 2, 1906) were guests of honor on the route from Jesenice to Trieste by court train . The Karawankenbahn to the north was opened in the presence of Karl Wurmb on September 30, 1906.

Operation until 1945

The line was operated by the kk Staatsbahnen (kkStB), which was directly subordinate to the Ministry of Railways. From May to September 1912 and 1913 and from May to July 1914, state railway trains with observation cars of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) ran on the route Salzburg-Villach-Trieste , which these cars with 33 leather armchairs, electric reading lamps, reading and smoking compartments, library, Viewing platform, interpreter and tour guide of the CPR, four desks as well as stenographer and typist. Those traveling 1st or 2nd  class could reserve a numbered seat at any travel agency for an additional fee of 5 crowns. The opening trip of the observation car on the Wocheiner Bahn took place on August 20, 1912 (Villach from 9:20 am, Trieste at 3:05 pm); Julius Wagner-Jauregg , a prominent doctor, took part.

During the First World War , Italy changed fronts in the spring of 1915 (see London Agreement ). There were twelve battles on the Isonzo from June 1915 to October 1917 . Here the Italian army wanted to force the invasion of the Danube monarchy in numerous battles for over two years, but was always repulsed by the Austro-Hungarian army . Most of the Austro-Hungarian supplies to the Isonzo front came via this route from the north . The route was interrupted in 1915–1917 near Gorizia and could therefore only be traveled from Jesenice (document?).

The 6th Isonzo Battle began on August 6, 1916 ; On the night of August 8th to 9th, sappers of the Austrian troops blew up the main arch of the Salcanobrücke as they withdrew from Gorizia .

In August 1917 Italian troops attacked in the 11th Isonzo battle south of the Wocheiner tunnel across the river and railroad with 48 divisions and temporarily captured the hills of the Bajnšice (Bainsizza) on the eastern bank of the Isonzo. After the Austro-Hungarian Army had advanced from the Isonzo to the distant Piave in October 1917 , the Salcanobrücke was provisionally constructed in order to be able to drive the route back to Trieste.

After the First World War, the railway area between Yugoslavia and Italy was divided (see Peace Treaty of Versailles # Italy ). The border was at the Wocheiner tunnel; the Isonzo valley belonged entirely to Italy. Italy restored the Salcano Bridge (this time from reinforced concrete with a natural stone cladding). The Italian section of the line was electrified with 3 kV direct current in the short section Villa Opicina – Trieste Campo Marzio until 1936 . The importance of the railway line had decreased significantly compared to the pre-war period.

Operation since 1945

Freight train with JŽ 28-012 in Bled station, 1971

In 1945 the Italy-Yugoslavia border moved westward; the Isonzo Valley was now largely Yugoslavian. Yugoslavia built the Kreplje - Sežana branch line until 1948 , where there is a connection to the Spielfeld-Straß-Trieste railway line , the southern part of the historic Austrian Southern Railway . The connection enables traffic between Südbahn and Wocheiner Bahn without touching Italian territory.

Due to the political division of Europe after the Second World War, the Wocheiner Bahn continued to lose importance from 1945 to 1990.

Route north of Kopriva

After the opening of the Koper Railway in 1967, port traffic between Koper and Germany / Austria was handled via Karst and Wocheiner Bahn ("Isonzo Corridor"). In 1976, after the earthquake in Friuli , the Wocheiner Bahn was used as an alternative route for express trains. Since the early 1990s, most traffic has been handled via Pivka (St. Peter in Krain) and Ljubljana (Laibach). This significantly reduced the importance of the “ Isonzo Corridor”. Today, the Wocheiner Bahn is usually used as an alternative route.

Most of the Wocheiner Bahn, from Jesenice to the current state border at Repentabor / Monrupino, is now in Slovenia , which has been independent since 1991 , the rest in Italy . The accession of Slovenia and other states to the EU in 2004 and the Schengen area at the end of 2007 accelerated rail traffic from large parts of Europe to the ports of Trieste and Koper , which are particularly convenient for the Czech Republic , southern Germany , Slovakia , Austria and Hungary by eliminating border controls essential.

Train traffic today

In passenger train traffic, the route is now only served by local traffic, with only a part of the trains running continuously between Jesenice and Sežana. There has been no tourist traffic between Kreplje and Trieste for decades. Freight trains only run across the state border to Trieste in exceptional cases.

In the summer months, steam-hauled museum trains run on the most scenic stretch of route between Jesenice and Nova Gorica . A historic train set made up of Italian, Austrian and Yugoslav vehicles from the Slovenian Railway Museum in Ljubljana is used .

Trains with car transporters run through the Wocheiner tunnel.

Route description

Wocheiner tunnel, north portal

The route runs from Jesenice through the Sava valley, changes to the Radovna valley and strives to cross the watershed in the Wocheiner tunnel.

tunnel

• Week of a tunnel

In the originally 6,339 (now 6,327.4) meter long Wocheiner tunnel under the Kobla mountain , the route crosses the watershed between the Save and Isonzo / Soča. The tunnel cross-section is suitable for double-track operation and thus corresponds to other tunnels of this era such as the Tauern and Arlberg tunnels .

From 1919 to 1945, Italy's eastern border ran along the tunnel.

• In addition, the line has 41 other tunnels.

Salcano Bridge near Nova Gorica

bridges

After leaving the Wocheiner tunnel, the route meanders through the Isonzo valley, which it crosses several times.

Salcanobrücke (Solkanbrücke)

The Salcano Bridge near Nova Gorica is the largest bridge structure on the route. With a wingspan of 85 meters , it is also the world's largest stone arch bridge. For the fate of the bridge in World War I, see the section Operation until 1945. Informative details about the - completely forgotten - master builder of the Salcanobrücke can be found in the publication … tout Vienne! Gustav Orglmeister - the last Viennese imperial and royal court architect .

Others

Bohinjska Bistrica

During the First World War, a field railway built by Russian prisoners of war led from the Wocheiner Feistritz station to the south bank of the Wocheiner See and along it to Ukanc at the western end of the lake. From there, an elevator took people and material transported by the Wocheiner Bahn to the mountains behind the northern Isonzo front . The Austro-Hungarian army built a power station and later operated the field railway, which was originally operated as a horse-drawn railway, electrically. After the end of the war, passenger trains ran on this field railway until 1924, when it was discontinued. The prisoner of war camp was in Wochein.

Nova Gorica

Immediately west of the reception building of the Wocheiner Bahn in Gorizia, the state border between Yugoslavia and Italy, today between Slovenia and Italy , has been running across Piazza Transalpina, today's Evropski Trg ("European Square") since 1945/1947 . The station, captured by Tito's partisans in 1945 , remained with Yugoslavia as a result of the Second World War, which east of it built the city of Nova Gorica from 1948 . The city of Gorizia (Gorizia) remained with Italy as it had since 1918. A small museum in the train station shows relics of the division, which has lost its importance since the end of 2007 because the border can also be crossed at any point without controls due to the Schengen Border Code .

literature

• The new railways in Austria. Wocheiner train . In: Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung. News from the Reich and State Authorities . Published by the Ministry of Public Works. Volume 56.1903, XXIII. Vintage. Ernst, Berlin 1903, ZDB -ID 200914-6 , p. 357 f. - Full text online .
• B (runo) v (on) Enderes :  traffic and industry newspaper . The Wocheinerbahn. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Morgenblatt, No. 15050/1906, July 17, 1906, p. 17 ff. (Online at ANNO ). .
• The Wocheiner Bahn (see 12 pictures). In:  Österreichs Illustrierte Zeitung , No. 44/1906, July 29, 1906, pp. 998–1001. (Online at ANNO ). .
• The opening of the Wocheiner line of the new Salzburg-Trieste Alpine Railway . In: Albert Hofmann (Red.): Deutsche Bauzeitung . Volume 40.1906, issue 62. XL. Vintage. Verlag der Deutsche Bauzeitung, Berlin 1906, ZDB -ID 211963-8 , p. 422 ff. - Full text online (PDF; 22.5 MB) .
• Hanns Barth: travel guide to the new Austria. Alpine railways: Wocheinerbahn Aßling-Görz-Trieste . Using official sources with 22 illustrations and 1 map. Imperial and Royal Court and State Printing House, Vienna 1908.
• Fritz Benesch : Traffic book of Austrian railways . Volume 6: Carniola and Coastal Land . Reisser, Vienna 1910. - Full text online (PDF) .
• Max Klodič von Sabladoski:  The construction of the Wocheiner tunnel. In:  Allgemeine Bauzeitung , year 1911, LXXVI. Year, pp. 25–41 and plans 16–21. (Online at ANNO ).
• Illustrated guide on the Imperial and Royal Austrian State Railways . Seventh edition. Issue 36: For the Schwarzach-St. Veit – Badgastein – Villach, Villach – Rosenbach – Assling – Görz – Trieste . Steyrermühl, Vienna 1912. - Full text online (PDF) .
• Richard Heinersdorff: The imperial and royal privileged railways of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy . 1st edition. Fritz Molden Verlag, Vienna 1975, ISBN 3-217-00571-6
• Gerhard Pilgram, Wilhelm Berger, Gerhard Maurer (Ill.): Looking for the distance. On foot from Carinthia to Trieste. A hiking-travel-reading book . Carinthia-Verlag, Klagenfurt 2006, ISBN 978-3-85378-594-2
• Elmar Oberegger: The most important main railways . On the history of the railway in the "Alps-Danube-Adriatic region", volume 3. (Publications of the information office for Austrian railway history, special issue 2007,3,3). Self-published information office for Austrian railway history, Sattledt 2007, ZDB -ID 2387534-3 . - Table of contents online (PDF)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Impianti FS . In: I Treni No. 255 (January 2004), p. 8
2. ^ Fr. E .: The economic model in Austria. (Conclusion) II. Law concerning the production of several railways at state expense, etc. In: Deutsche Bauzeitung , Heft 56/1901, XXXV. Year, ZDB -ID 211963-8 , p. 347 f. - Full text online (PDF; 17.8 MB) .
3. ^ Eduard Jordan: The ice rink viaduct of Solkan / Salcano . In: Troop service, episode 332, issue 2/2013
4. ^ Heinersdorff: Die kuk privilegierten Eisenbahnen , p. 120
5. ↑ RGBl. 1901/63. In:  Reichsgesetzblatt for the kingdoms and countries represented in the Reichsrath , year 1901, pp. 201–207. (Online at ANNO ).
6. ↑ RGBl. 1901/157. In:  Reichsgesetzblatt for the kingdoms and countries represented in the Reichsrath , year 1901, p. 504. (Online at ANNO ).
7. ↑ Heinersdorff: Die kuk privilegierten Eisenbahnen , p. 125
8. ^ Elmar Oberegger : Wippach Valley Railway . In: -: Encyclopedia on the railway history of the Alps-Danube-Adriatic region , 2010, accessed March 10, 2013
9. ^ Slovenian prelude to the opening of the Aßling – Trieste line. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Abendblatt, No. 15047/1906, July 14, 1906, p. 2, bottom left. (Online at ANNO ). .
10. ↑ The opening of the new Alpine railway to Trieste. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Abendblatt, No. 15052/1906, July 19, 1906, p. 4, center left. (Online at ANNO ). ,
    The opening of the new alpine railway to Trieste. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Morgenblatt, No. 15053/1906, July 20, 1906, p. 8 ff. (Online at ANNO ). ,
    The opening of the new alpine railway to Trieste. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Abendblatt, No. 15053/1906, July 20, 1906, p. 3 f. (Online at ANNO ). .
11. ↑ Maximilian Rabl et al. Johann Stockklausner: Austrian passenger cars. Development, construction and operation since 1832. Vienna 1982, pp. 33, 34 (timetable), 154 (photos).
12. ↑ Heinersdorff: Die kuk privilegierten Eisenbahnen , p. 148 f.
13. ↑ ^{a b c} www.technischesmuseum.at The 1,960 m³ ashlar stones for the construction were extracted from the quarries of Nabresina. The building materials for palaces in Venice and Rome came from there.
14. ↑ Lexicon page with photo of the blown bridge
15. ↑ Pilgram: The Wide Range , p. 158
16. ↑ Pilgram: The Wide Range , p. 95
17. ↑ Homepage
18. ↑ Pilgram: The Wide Range , p. 94
19. ^ E. Sieder and Dieter Klein, Library of the Province, Weitra 2011
20. ↑ Pilgram: The Wide Range , p. 78
21. ↑ Pilgram: The Wide Range , p. 192.

Remarks

1. ↑ As of December 2009: 1 K (1900) = € 3.61; calculated from Erste Österreichische Spar-Casse (Hrsg.): Vienna, am Graben 21. 150 years of Erste Österreichische Spar-Casse. 150 years of Austrian history , Vienna 1969, p. 268, and consumer price index 1966
2. ↑ Regular operation of the railway began on July 23, 1906. - See: The opening of the new Alpine railway to Trieste. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Morgenblatt, No. 15055/1906, July 22, 1906, p. 10, bottom left. (Online at ANNO ). .

Web links

Commons : Jesenice – Trieste railway line  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Nostalgia train - with the nostalgia train on the Bohinjska Proga from Nova Gorica to Bled 2017 . Retrieved November 2, 2017.
• Elmar Oberegger: Wocheiner-Bahn . In: -: Encyclopedia on the railway history of the Alps-Danube-Adriatic region , 2006
• Elmar Oberegger: The Wocheinerbahn from Aßling (Jesenice) to Gorizia (Nova Gorica) . In: - (Ed.): Transalpina. From the Danube to Trieste. A reader . 2006
• Elmar Oberegger: The Karst Railway from Gorizia to Triest-St. Andrä (Trieste Campo Marzio) (description of the railway journey Nove Gorica - Trieste CM) In: - (Ed.): Transalpina. From the Danube to Trieste. A reader . 2006
• Elmar Oberegger: Karst Railway . In: -: Encyclopedia on the railway history of the Alps-Danube-Adriatic region , 2006
• Johann Sturm: Wocheinerbahn . (Photo gallery of a special trip). In: mytrains.at , accessed on May 23, 2011