A concession for a railway from Budapest to Neusohl had already been granted in January 1863 to the kk privileged Pest-Losoncz- Neusohl Railway and Hard Coal Union . The company went bankrupt in the Hungarian Northern Railway (Magyar északi vasút), which completed the line to today's border town of Salgótarján in 1866. The continuation to today's Slovakia to Ruttka (today: Vrútky) only succeeded under the direction of the Hungarian State Railways (MÁV).
Opening dates:
May 4, 1871: Salgótarján – Losonc (Salgótarján – Lučenec)
June 18, 1871: Losonc – Altsohl (Lučenec – Zvolen)
August 12, 1872: Altsohl – Ruttka (Zvolen – Vrútky)
The route is mostly single-track. A double-track expansion was carried out on the Lovinobaňa – Kriváň , Zvolen – Hronská Dúbrava and Horná Štubňa – Vrútky sections . Only routes Zvolen nákl are electrified. st. – Hronská Dúbrava (~ 25 kV 50 Hz) and Martin – Vrútky (= 3 kV) Several local trains and a few express trains run every day. Freight traffic is of minor importance.
On May 1, 2011, passenger traffic on the Fiľakovo – Somoskőújfalu section was discontinued.
Route description
The route begins in the Hungarian town of Salgótarján and after a few kilometers crosses the Hungarian-Slovak border in the Cerová vrchovina mountainous region . Halfway from Fiľakovo to Lučenec there is a crossing of the Ipeľ . At Lovinobaňa in the valley between the Ostrôžky and Slovak Ore Mountains , the route changes its south-north direction to west-east direction and initially runs in the Zvolenská kotlina basin along the Slatina to the town of Zvolen. After a few kilometers in the Grant Valley , it leads from Hronská Dúbrava in the Kremnitzer Mountains , partly through tunnels, and turns back north. From Horná Štubňa the route crosses the waterfall and ends in Vrútky on the main railway Žilina-Košice .
