Hatzfeld Railway

Großbetschkerek – Hatzfeld
The train around 1910 in the main square of Zrenjanin
Route length:	about 68 km
Gauge :	760 mm ( Bosnian gauge )
Legend Großbetschkerek Großbetschkerek Begaufer Großbetschkerek German Alley Großbetschkerek main square Großbetschkerek Crown Hotel Großbetschkerek Timisoara Street Großbetschkerek toll house Klek Kathreinfeld Sankt Georgen an der Bega Bega Idwor Chesterek Paulmeierhof Johannmeierhof Neuzerne Karolinenhof Leonameierhof German Zerne Radojevo Juliameierhof Yugoslavia / Romania (from 1923) New Hatzfeld Hatzfeld

The Hatzfeld Railway was a narrow-gauge railway between Zrenjanin (Großbetschkerek) in Serbia and Jimbolia (Hatzfeld) in Romania . It led on the entire route through the former Torontál County in the Kingdom of Hungary . Their length was about 68 kilometers, the track width 760 millimeters (" Bosnian track "). It was an exception in the Banat railway network; apart from forest railways , it was the only narrow-gauge line in the region. In addition to passenger transport, the railway was mainly used to transport agricultural goods.

In the urban area of ​​Zrenjanin, the trains drove - similar to a tram - on grooved rails through the city streets. They also passed the main square of the town. There were seven stations in the urban area, which meant that the railway also had an inner-city development function.

history

The concession for the construction of the railway was granted in 1897 to the Torontaler Lokalbahnen Aktiengesellschaft , the name of the operating company. Much of the line went into operation in 1898, only the short gap between Neu Hatzfeld and Hatzfeld could only be opened on June 28, 1899.

After the political division of the Banat in the Peace of Trianon in 1920 , the route first came to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia . The northern part of the railway came to Romania in 1923 through an area swap within the framework of the so-called Belgrade Convention . As a result, the section between Deutsch-Zerne and Hatzfeld had to be closed soon afterwards. To compensate for this, the Serbian State Railways built a new line between Deutsch-Zerne and Radojevo, which went into operation in 1926. On May 25, 1968, the Hatzfelder Bahn was finally shut down , and its route was soon dismantled.

literature

• Felix Milleker : The Banat Railways. Their creation and development. 1847-1917. Weißkirchen 1927.
• Oberegger, Elmar: Hatzfeld-G. Beckereker-Bahn. In: On the railway history of the Alps-Danube-Adriatic region.
• Veresic, Zoran: Steam in Serbia. 1882-2007. Beograd 2008.