Railway line Banja Luka – Sunja

Banja Luka – Sunja
Express train Zagreb - Sarajevo with a class 441 locomotive in Novi Grad
Route number :	63 ( ŽRS )
Course book range :	52 ( HŽ )
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	25 kV 50 Hz  ~
Top speed:	70 km / h
Legend 2.8 Banjaluka town from Doboj Track connections 0.0 93.5 Banja Luka suburb 153 m above sea level A. 98.7 Zalužani formerly Dragočaj 144 m above sea level A. Siding 103.0 Ramići 106.2 Prijakovci 110.5 Missin Han 206 m above sea level A. 114.9 Potkozarje until 1992 Jvanjska 289 m above sea level A. 120.5 Miloševići 206 m above sea level A. 124.8 Piskavica 176 m above sea level A. 128.7 Niševići Siding 131.7 Omarska 167 m above sea level A. from Tomašica mine 134.2 Donja Lamovita 137.2 Petrov Gaj 140.7 Kozarac 144 m above sea level A. 144.7 Donji Garevci Siding at Celpak, Steinbeisbahn from Srnetica 149.4 Prijedor 140 m above sea level A. to / by Ljubia Rudnik, Sana Siding 155.5 Brezičani 137 m above sea level A. 162.2 Dragotinja Donja 166.2 Svodna 126 m above sea level A. 169.3 Donja Svodna 170.9 Petkovac 173.9 Blagaj Una Railway to / from Knin , Sana 194.4 39.9 Novi Grad formerly Bosnian Novi 32.8 Ravnice Poljavnice siding 118 m above sea level A. 28.6 Vodičevo 25.5 Dobrljin 120 m above sea level A. Una , border Croatia - Bosnia and Herzegovina 19.7 Volinja 186 m above sea level A. 14.4 Hrvatska Kostajnica 11.6 Majur Graboštani Hrastovac from Novska Sunja 0.0 Sunja 105 m above sea level A. to Zagreb Sources: * Railway timetable in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Timetable 2018.    On: ec-tobias.de by Tobias Heinze * OpenStreetMap , accessed on April 1, 2018 * Maps from the Franzisco-Josephinische Landesaufnahme ,    Österreichisches Staatsarchiv * Driving regulations for postal trains during the war, from the kk    Hof- und Staatsdruckerei , Vienna , for 1914. On: Vremeplov by Srećko Ignjatović

The railway Banjaluka-Sunja is a 1870 to 1891 of the Chemins de fer Orientaux (CO), the imperial military web Banjaluka-Dobrlin (kukMB) and ku state railways built (MAV) single-track and of the Yugoslav State Railways electrified (JŽ) railway in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia . The line was operated from 1878 to 1915 by the kuk military railway Banjaluka – Dobrlin (kukMB, serbokroat. CiK vojnicka željeznica Banja Luka – Dobrljin ). Today it is part of the international connection from Sarajevo to Zagreb , with the Bosnian-Herzegovinian section belonging to the Željeznice Republike Srpske (ŽRS) and the Croatian section of the Hrvatske željeznice (HŽ).

history

First plans for an Orientbahn

The Turkish Sultan Abdülaziz pursued plans to build railway lines in Rumelia , the European part of the Ottoman Empire . These should lead from Constantinople via Adrianople , Niš , Mitrovica , Sarajevo and Banja Luka to Dobrljin on the Austro-Hungarian border. This coincided with the Austrian plans to be able to increase the influence on the Balkans with the construction of an "Orientbahn" to Constantinople . In 1870 the Austrian Foreign Minister Ferdinand Beust signed a state treaty with the Ottoman Grand Vizier Ali Pascha to build a railway between Austria-Hungary and the Turkish railways via Bosnia . But Hungary preferred a connection via Budapest - Belgrade - Niš to Constantinople and announced the refusal of a possible concession for a railway line from Novi Grad to Sisak .

On May 31, 1868, the Belgian company Van der Elst & Cie. the concession for a railway line from Constantinople to Vienna . Due to a lack of financial resources, the concession expired and was taken over by Baron Moritz von Hirsch on April 17, 1869 . The construction time of the 2500 kilometer long route through the mountainous Bosnia and the Sandžak was set ambitiously at seven to ten years.

Construction and operation of the first section of the Orientbahn

The Orient connection running through Hungary and Serbia was continuously passable in 1888. It was much cheaper to build than the line over several Bosnian mountain ranges. The route Sunja-Banja Luka remained one until 1951 spur track .

Baron Hirsch first built the technically simple and inexpensive sections of the railway. In 1870 the construction of the railway line from Banja Luka to Dobrljin began in the then Ottoman province of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On December 24, 1872, the Chemins de fer Orientaux were able to start operations on a first section of the route, followed by the grand opening of the 101.6-kilometer route on January 5, 1873. For a large part of the local population, the train tickets were too expensive and the island operation with the extremely thin timetable produced hardly any income. After only three years, operations were stopped on November 14, 1875 and the line fell into disrepair.

Due to the bankruptcy of the Ottoman Empire in 1875 and the unrest in Bosnia , the further construction of the lines came to a standstill and came to a complete standstill from 1877 onwards.

Reconstruction by the Austro-Hungarian army

Representative reception building of the Banja Luka train station. After the extension of the line into the city center, the station was called Banjaluka suburb, but remained the operating center of the military railway.

In 1878 Austria-Hungary was authorized by the Berlin Congress to occupy and administer Bosnia and Herzegovina for an unlimited period. What was planned as a peaceful invasion turned into a three-month long casualty campaign of occupation . The occupiers came across the remains of the Banja Luka – Dobrljin railway line, which was built under Ottoman rule. Because there was a lack of well-developed roads and transport routes, the Austro-Hungarian Army considered the rapid construction of a railway network to be absolutely necessary.

The Reich Ministry of War financed the reconstruction of the railway line in order to open up western Bosnia and to calm the inhabitants. On September 7, 1878, nine field railway departments began work, which in many places almost amounted to a new building. Bridges had collapsed, the reception building was destroyed and only a remnant of the rolling stock was left. After the extensive repair work, after three months on December 1, 1878, the section Banja Luka - Prijedor and on February 16, 1879 the section Prijedor - Novi Grad were handed over to military railroad operations. The remainder of the section to Dobrljin followed on March 24th. At the end of 1879 the final expansion was carried out and the railway was also available for civil traffic. Tender locomotives no. 40–41 and tender locomotives no. 401–403 of the vehicles of the former Orientbahn could be repaired.

Operation of the kuk military railway Banjaluka – Dobrlin

Seal mark of the management of the kuk military railway Banjaluka – Dobrlin

Reception building Banjaluka town with the inscription "kuk Militär-Bahn"

Passenger train in Dobrljin station, the first railway station in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Since the Reich Ministry of War and the Hungarian Ministry of Transport could not agree on the assumption of costs, the railway was not handed over to the ku Staatsbahnen (MÁV). The line, now known as the kuk Military Railway Banjaluka – Dobrlin (kukMB), was placed under the management of the Railway Office of the Reich Ministry of War and the operating personnel belonged to the field railway departments until 1883.

The island operation without a connection to the rail network of the monarchy made itself felt painfully. The Hungarian government refused the concession for a connection from Dobrljin to Sisak . Nevertheless, at the instigation of the Reich Ministry of War, construction work began in 1881. On April 10, 1882, the 48-kilometer gap between kukMB and Sisak was closed and the newly opened section of the route was handed over to MÁV. From now on, ran between Vienna South and Banja Luka daily coaches 1st and 2nd class . According to the operating agreement, the military railway took over the operation on the Dobrljin – Volinja section.

The experience gained during the Bosnian occupation campaign led in 1883 to the replacement of the previous 15 field railway departments by the Austro-Hungarian Railway and Telegraph Regiment , which consisted of two battalions . Two companies provided operational service from 1885. Because of the difficulties caused by the change of military teams, the military railway was reorganized from 1888 to 1897 and the military operating personnel gradually replaced by civil servants. A staff officer of the railway regiment remained as director with the rank of major .

From 1888 onwards, the military railroaders built their route into first-class condition. Thanks to realignments, heavier rails and iron instead of wooden bridges, the top speed could be increased from 30 to 40 and later to 60 km / h. On October 1, 1891, the line was extended by 2.8 kilometers to the center of the city of Banja Luka and the new terminus was named Banjaluka City .

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  In 1891 the military railway extended its route into the city center and in 1898 built the spacious reception building in Banjaluka City .

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  Track system of the Banjaluka-Stadt railway station

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  Street side of the Banja Luka city train station with a park and a wooden pavilion as shady seating

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  The original terminus was renamed Banjaluka-Vorstadt after the extension , but remained the operating center of the military railway .

In 1911, a pair of passenger trains and several mixed trains ran daily . While the company was originally still in deficit, it closed with surpluses from the 1990s onwards. Because the branch line had no connection to Sarajevo or other important places in Bosnia, the military railway operated a 73-kilometer mail car line from Banja Luka to Jajce . After the Bosnian-Herzegovinian state government demanded a takeover of the military railway, the line was ceded to the Bosnian-Herzegovinian state railways (BHLB) in a law of March 6, 1913 on July 1, 1915 . At this time the First World War was raging , in which the railway line grew to great importance.

Locomotives of the Austro-Hungarian military railway Banjaluka – Dobrlin

Wheel alignment	Construction year	Manufacturer	CO no.	first kukMB no.	second kukMB no.	SHS no. from 1918	JDŽ no. from 1933	Whereabouts	image
Bt	1872	Tubize	401-402		11-12			discarded in 1908
			403		13			discarded in 1917
C.	1872	Hanomag	40-41		21-22
C.	1882	Wiener Neustadt		50	31
	1886			51	41
	1886			52	51
	1886			53-54	52-53
1'C1 '	1908	Wiener Neustadt			61-62		108-001-002	HDŽ
1'C	1915	Wiener Neustadt			71-72		129-001-002	HDŽ
1'C1 '	1918	MÁVAG			11 "-13"		155-001 - 003 from 1938: 51-129 - 131	HDŽ, No. 11 today in Sombor	Sister machine 331.037 of the ČSD in Bratislava Vychod

Yugoslavia and Bosnia-Herzegovina

In Banja Luka, the passenger train to Dobrljin is ready for departure. The wagons originally came from the Deutsche Reichsbahn and came to the Željeznice Republike Srpske (ŽRS) as a construction aid after the Yugoslav wars.

After the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy , the Banja Luka – Sunja line came to the Železnice Kraljevine Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca (SHS, Railways of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes) and later to the Yugoslav State Railways (JDŽ / JŽ). With the construction of the Doboj – Banja Luka railway in 1951, the branch line was upgraded to a section of the Sarajevo – Zagreb connection . As part of the 50-Hertz electrification program started in the 1960s , the Yugoslav State Railways (JŽ) converted the section from Banja Luka to Sunja to electric traction .

With the break-up of Yugoslavia , the route in the Republika Srpska came to the Željeznice Republike Srpske (ŽRS). Since the war in Yugoslavia , passenger traffic has decreased significantly and freight traffic has decreased significantly. The track is in poor condition. In April 1998 the Dobrljin / Volinja border crossing was opened again. In 2011 the war damage was extensively repaired. At the end of 2017, a contract was signed with the China Shandong International Economic & Technical Cooperation Group to comprehensively renew the route. The maximum permissible speed is to be increased from 70 km / h to 120 km / h and level crossings are to be replaced or modernized with overpasses and underpasses.

Route description

The former city train station in Banja Luka from 1898 now houses the Museum of Contemporary Art.

The route has its starting point in Banja Luka, where the railway line from Doboj ends. It runs along the left bank of the Vrbas River in the city . At the outskirts, the railway line leaves the Vrba valley and now follows the M4 magistral road . Between Potkozarje and Miloševići, the railway separates from the main road leading to Kozarac and follows the road between gentle, bush-covered slopes to Omarska station with the extensive facilities of the mining company of the same name and further to Kozarac station, which is far from the village. From there, the route goes dead straight along the Ribnjak Saničani fish farm to Prijedor . The station there was the starting point for the narrow-gauge Steinbeisbahn until 1975 .

As far as Novi Grad , the train and M4 main road follow the Sana . In Brezičani, the Ljubia Rudnik mine is connected to the railway network by means of a track triangle . The Novi Grad train station not only opens up the city on the other side of the river and at the mouth of the Sana in the Una , but also offers a connection to the Una railway leading to Knin . The railway line runs together with the M14 main road along the right bank of the Una to Dobrljin , the last train station in Bosnia and Herzegovina . Between Dobrljin and Volinja, the route crosses the border river and reaches Croatia . A short climb leads up to Hrvatska Kostajnica , as the train leaves the Una valley and meets the Sunja at Majur. The last kilometers lead along this river to the endpoint of the same name on the Novska – Zagreb railway line .

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  The former suburban railway station Banja Luka has given way to a new building.

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  Prijedor station on an old postcard

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  Dobrljin, the last train station in Bosnia-Herzegovina

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  Sunja station, the end of the route, with an old water tower

business

The Banja Luka – Dobrljin line has little passenger traffic. For regional traffic, four pairs of trains run between Doboj and Novi Grad , some of which continue to Dobrljin. The Croatian Railways (HŽ) offer six connections between Sunja and Volinja on working days and five connections in the opposite direction.

The direct connection between Sarajevo and Zagreb was discontinued in the 2017 timetable . The Talgo connection Sarajevo – Banja Luka, which has existed since 2017, was supplemented in 2018 with a second pair of trains from Sarajevo via Novi Grad to Bihać on the Una Railway . It is planned to reintroduce the international Sarajevo – Zagreb trains.

literature

• Werner Schiendl : The railways in Bosnia and Herzegovina 1867-1918. Edition Bahn im Film, Vienna 2015, ISBN 978-3-9503096-5-2 .
• Wernekke: Military Railways . In: Victor von Röll (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the Railway System. Volume 7. Berlin / Vienna, 1923, pp. 227-228. (zeno.org)

References and comments

1. ↑ Historical maps of the Habsburg monarchy on mapire.eu
2. ^ Kurt Wessely: The economic development of Bosnia-Herzegovina :. In: The Habsburg Monarchy 1848–1918. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences , Vienna 1973, Volume 1, ISBN 3-7001-0030-2 , p. 199.
3. ↑ Peter Jordan: The development of the railway network in the area of ​​today's Yugoslavia (until 1918). In: Railway construction and capital interests in the relations of the Austrian with the South Slavic countries. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1993, Volume 19, p. 21.
4. ^ ^{A b} Anton Hauger: Bosnia, Herzegovina and the field railroad system. Bertschinger & Heyn, Vienna / Klagenfurt 1878, pp. 85–86.
5. ^ Radoslave Dimtschoff: The railway system on the Balkan Peninsula. Bamberg 1884, p. 22.
6. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Alfred Horn: The railways in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Special issue of the railway. Ployer, Vienna 1964, pp. 7-8.
7. ↑ Dževad Juzbasic: Railway construction in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the economic differences between Austria and Hungary. In: Railway construction and capital interests in the relations of the Austrian with the South Slavic countries. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1993, p. 146.
8. ^ Josef Pospichal: kuk military railway Banja Luka - Dobrljin, accessed on March 20, 2018.
9. ^ Christian Peschl: The Train of the new Millennium - a historical event. In: Swiss Railway Review. No. 8-9 / 2003. Minirex, ISSN  1022-7113 , pp. 363-365.
10. ↑ Bosnian Serb Republic: China helps. In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 4/2008. Minirex, ISSN  1022-7113 , p. 202.
11. ^ Course book of the railways in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Timetable 2018. On: ec-tobias.de by Tobias Heinze
12. ↑ Hrvatske željeznice (HŽ) online timetable, accessed on April 15, 2018.
13. ^ Course book of the railways in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Timetable 2017. On: ec-tobias.de by Tobias Heinze
14. ^ Mathias Rellstab: Talgo to Banja Luka. In: Swiss Railway Review. No. 10/2017. Minirex, ISSN  1022-7113 , p. 513.
15. ^ Toma Bacic: Talgo trains to Bihać. In: Swiss Railway Review. No. 8-9 / 2018, p. 426.
16. ↑ Toma Bacic: Bosnian Talgo trains finally in use. In: Swiss Railway Review. No. 11/2016, p. 545.

Web links

Commons : Sunja – Volinja railway line (Croatian section)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Commons : Dobrljin – Banja Luka railway line (Bosnian-Herzegovinian section)  - collection of images, videos and audio files