Novi Grad – Knin railway line

Novi Grad – Knin
Route number :	64 (ŽRS) / 17 (ŽFBH) / R103 (HŽ)
Route length:	178 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Route class :	D4
Power system :	Novi Grad – Bihać: 25 kV 50 Hz  ~
Top speed:	Novi Grad – Martin Brod: 50 km / h Martin Brod – Knin: 0 km / h
Legend by Sunja 0.0 Novi Grad 121.5  m. i. J. to Banja Luka 0.8 Ab or Most na Sani Sana 8.5 Rudice 129.1  m. i. J. 12.5 Rakani 16.7 Blatna 137.2  m. i. J. 19,600 Infrastructure boundary ŽRS - ŽFBH 24.274 Bosanska Otoka 143.2  m. i. J. 27,600 Drenova Glavica Una 29,800 Podvran 34.235 Bosanska Krupa 143.2  m. i. J. Una 45.821 Grmuša 179.6  m. i. J. 55.244 Cazin - Srbljani 201.6  m. i. J. 65.910 Bihać 222.5  m. i. J. Pritoka 73.890 Ripač 231.1  m. i. J. 78,000 Račić Una 83.002 State border Bosnia-Herzegovina - Croatia 84.638 Loskun 247.1  m. i. J. 91,600 Štrbački Buk 95.235 Kestenovac 300.1  m. i. J. 99.472 State border Croatia - Bosnia-Herzegovina 100,200 Bušević 105.473 Kulen Vacuf 322  m. i. J. 109,600 Palučci Jarapaga Viaduct 115.673 Martin Brod 362.7  m. i. J. Una 119.444 Infrastructure border ŽFBH - HŽ 123.528 Una 399.7  m. i. J. 123.950 Krka and the state border BiH - Croatia 126.006 Begluci 127,400 State border Croatia - Bosnia-Herzegovina 130.947 Bosanski Osredci - Srb 528.8  m. i. J. 133.836 Osredci 137.660 State border Bosnia-Herzegovina - Croatia 138.445 Ličko Dugo Polje 637.6  m. i. J. from Prijedor 142.451 Lička Kaldrma 674  m. i. J. 146.161 Lički Tiškovac 154.100 State border Croatia - Bosnia-Herzegovina 154.164 Bosanski Drenovac 155.772 State border Bosnia-Herzegovina - Croatia 160.978 Strmica Komalić 169.006 Golubic from Oštarije from Zadar 177.963 Knin 221  m. i. J. to Split

The Novi Grad – Knin (Una Railway) railway is a main line in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia . It runs from Novi Grad in northwestern Bosnia via Bihać to Martin Brod , essentially upstream in the Una valley and continues into Knin in Croatia . It crosses the state border a total of seven times. The first 19.6 km of the route is operated by the Željeznice Republike Srpske (ŽRS), then by the Željeznice Federacije Bosne i Hercegovine (ŽFBH; 99.8 km) and the Hrvatske željeznice (HŽ; 58.5 km) ). It was once fully electrified, as of the end of 2019 the overhead line and traction power systems are only in operation or again between Novi Grad and Bihać. Regular passenger traffic also only takes place between Novi Grad and Bihać.

history

Between Bihać and Bosanska Krupa, the route runs parallel to the M14 main road (2007)

Jarapaga Viaduct between Kulen Vakuf and Martin Brod (2007)

Track construction and development until 1991

As early as the beginning of the 20th century, during the Austro-Hungarian administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina , there were considerations to connect Bihać to the railway network with a 67 km long standard-gauge railway in Novi Grad. After the First World War , the plans were implemented by the railways of the newly established Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes . The section from Bosanski Novi (today Novi Grad) to Bosanska Krupa (34 km) was opened on October 7, 1920, the continuation to Bihać (32 km) on January 17, 1924. The 112 km long gap between Bihać and the existing one , standard gauge line to Split was started simultaneously from Bihać and Knin in spring 1936, but the construction work had to be interrupted by the Second World War. From April 1936 to April 1940, the French construction company Société de Construction des Batignolles worked on the route, four fifths of the route had been completed before the outbreak of war. During the war, work slowed down significantly due to the departure of French engineers. According to the ŽFBH, the line to Knin was finally put into operation on November 28, 1948 by the then Yugoslav State Railways (JDŽ), from 1953 Yugoslavian Railways (JŽ). According to other information, the construction of this section was completed in 1946 and put into operation on December 25, 1948. Between Lička Kaldrma and Knin, the 35 km long route of the former Steinbeisbahn was included and converted from narrow gauge to standard gauge.

A fundamental modernization of this line including electrification was started in 1984 and completed in 1987. A plaque in the Bihać train station still reminds of this today. Among other things, the line speed was increased to 120 km / h at that time.

Within Yugoslavia , the route served in particular to connect the northern regions of the country with the Dalmatian coast. At the same time, it was always more efficient than the steeply sloping Lika lift, which lies a little further west . Many express trains (partly also with car transporters) from Ljubljana , Zagreb , Osijek , Subotica and Belgrade ran on the Una Railway to Split, Šibenik or Zadar. In addition, electric multiple units operated as the “Olimpik Express” between Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Bihać (status: JŽ timetable 1991/1992, valid from June 2, 1991). More than a million travelers were transported annually and more than four million tons of goods were transported on the route. The Yugoslav Railways' annual timetable from 1991 included 34 passenger trains per day, plus numerous freight trains. In terms of freight transport, the route was particularly important in serving the central Dalmatian ports of Split, Zadar and Šibenik. More than 80 trains ran on the route on individual days.

The route in the war years 1991 to 1995

With Croatia's independence from Yugoslavia in June 1991, the route sections located in Croatia were formally transferred to its newly founded railway company HŽ. Due to the war , continuous traffic on the Una Railway was interrupted in August 1991. The Croatian part of the route was from 1991 to 1995 on the territory of the internationally unrecognized Republic of Serbian Krajina and thus outside the sphere of influence of the HŽ. In the official timetable of the HŽ for the 1994 summer timetable, there were accordingly no traffic offers on this route.

Analog were situated within Bosnia and Herzegovina road sections with its independence from Yugoslavia in March 1992 on the state level envisaged Željeznice of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ZBH), a predecessor of today's ŽFBH over. The war-ending agreements in the Dayton Agreement result in the proportionate location of the route in the Republika Srpska and in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina , which in turn results in the current shared responsibility of ŽRS and ŽFBH for the section of the route located in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the Croatian War (1991–1995) and in the Bosnian War (1992–1995) the line and overhead line system were severely damaged in sections. Among other things, three of the four bridges over the Una were destroyed.

Within one to two months, both the overhead contact line and numerous underground cables for the control and security technology fell victim to systematic theft on large sections of the route . In contrast to the open route north and south of the station, the overhead line system in the Kulen Vakuf and Martin Brod stations is still in place today.

Reconstruction and development since 1996

In 1998 the route was put back into operation by SFOR , among other things, SFOR had rebuilt the three damaged bridges with financial support from the European Union . The ŽFBH and the HŽ subsequently carried out further repairs to the line. Except for the largely intact section between Novi Grad and Blatna, there was initially no more electrical operation. The route standard (maximum speed, safety technology) remained far below the pre-war state.

The first and so far only continuous passenger train after the war ran in January 2001 from Zagreb via Novi Grad and Bihać to Knin. The train was manned by numerous guests of honor from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia and was intended to draw attention to the imminent recommissioning of the line for passenger traffic. In the summer of 2001, an agreement was signed between the governments of the two countries on the sharing of responsibility for route operation, maintenance and repair and was ratified in October 2001. Regardless of the state border, Bosnia and Herzegovina is responsible for the route up to kilometer 119.444, and Croatia south of it. Until 2009 there was occasional freight traffic on the Una Railway, both intra-Croatian traffic in transit through Bosnia and Herzegovina and traffic between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the port in Split.

Closed route between Strmica and Knin (2018)

On May 17, 2010, the HŽ closed the section of the route from the division point to Knin, which they were responsible for. The reasons given were structural defects on the route that do not allow safe rail traffic, as well as damage to be removed after landslides. In the short term, the necessary financial resources would not be available. In view of the fact that there was no longer any passenger traffic and only occasional freight traffic on the route, the traffic importance of the route is low and the existing funds of the HŽ are given priority on more important routes. Since then, railway operations have not been possible on the Croatian-responsible section between Martin Brod and Knin, only between Novi Grad and Martin Brod. According to a media report from 2012, when representatives of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina traveled together in 2011, it was found that the half-kilometer section of the route for which Croatia was responsible was in poor condition due to falling rocks. An emergency repair so that trains could at least run at reduced speed would cost 4 million kuna (approx. 0.5 million euros), a complete repair 15 million kuna (approx. 2 million euros). According to HŽ, these funds will not be available in 2012 or in the medium term.

On December 1, 2012, the remaining regular rail passenger transport between Novi Grad and Bihać was stopped by the ŽFBH due to excessive deficits in ongoing operations. Despite the legal obligation, the cantonal government did not participate in the co-financing of the transports. Until 2018, only goods traffic took place on the Bosnian side. The section from Bihać to Kulen Vakuf is occasionally used for special tourist trips.

In May 2017, a contract was concluded between the governments of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina for the end-to-end recommissioning of the line, which was intended to provide a basis for the granting of European funds. The Adriatic ports, the Croatian Port Association and the city of Knin as a railway hub support these efforts. In January 2018, the ŽFBH then placed the order for the repair of the electrical contact line on the Blatna – Bihać section with the aim of resuming passenger traffic. According to official information, the repair work cost just under 1.5 million euros. The Hrvatske željeznice , and their now responsible for the infrastructure subsidiary HŽ Infrastruktura, has been named as the lead project partner on the Croatian side. The company expresses itself much more cautiously and sees the Bosnian-Herzegovinian side as the leading partner for activities relating to the acquisition of funding from the European Union.

Initially with one pair of trains per day, Bihać was connected directly to the capital Sarajevo for the first time in 27 years. Regular traffic began with an opening train on July 3, 2018. The train leaves Sarajevo at 4 p.m. and arrives in Bihać at 0.22 a.m., where it starts its return journey at 2.03 a.m., arriving in Sarajevo at 10:28 a.m. One of the four Talgo night train compositions is used for this connection , all other Talgo services are provided with the five day train sets.

gallery

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  Passenger train with diesel locomotive between Bihać and Bosanska Krupa (2007)

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  Bihać Railway Station (2015)

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  Ripač railway station (2015)

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  Cazin-Srbljani railway station (2015)

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  Kulen Vakuf station (2015)

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  Martin Brod Station (2015)

Route description

Branching of the routes to Zadar , Oštarije and Bihać (from left) near the Knin train station (2018)

The line branches off in Novi Grad from the Banja Luka – Sunja railway, which was completed in 1891, and initially runs south of the Una in the direction of Bosanska Otoka . After Otoka and Bosanska Krupa , it changes to the northern side of the river for a few kilometers, but returns to the other bank in the Una Gorge between Krupa and Bihać. Due to the limited space available in the sometimes very narrow gorge, the route to the Bihać district Pokoj leads partly right next to main road 14 and crosses several tunnels before reaching the Bihać plain. Behind the town, the route south of Ripač re-enters a ravine of the Una, which here belongs to the Una National Park , and changes the river side again, reaching Croatian territory. In the national park it passes through several longer tunnels and a. at the Štrbački Buk waterfall and at the level of Orašac again over Bosnian territory to Kulen Vakuf . At Martin Brod , it crosses the Una, which now marks the state border again, one last time and leaves its valley not far from the source at Donja Suvaja . In Lička Kaldrma station , the route of the former Steinbeisbahn is reached. This station is 674  m. i. J. also the highest operating point on the route. Its apex is in the immediate vicinity. As far as Strmica , the route now leads slightly downhill through sparsely populated mountainous land, always close to the border. From Strmica, the route runs along the edge of the Butižnica valley across Croatian territory to Knin.

On the scenic section between Bihać and Strmica, the route crosses the state border seven times and the Una river twice; the Una four times over its entire course.

On the 112 km long section from Bihać to Knin alone, the route leads through 36 tunnels with a total length of 12 km.

Cross-border railway operations

The division of operator responsibility between ŽFBH and HŽ is not originally based on the state border, the course of which is controversial in this section . Instead, a so-called “division point” (razdjelna tačka / razdjelna točka) was established. This is located at kilometer 119.444 south of the Martin Brod train station on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Both companies are therefore solely responsible for route provision and maintenance on sections of the route in their respective foreign countries.

Martin Brod in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ličko Dugo Polje in Croatia have been designated as official border crossings for both passenger and freight traffic. Both stations are also border stations in terms of railway law.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Željeznice Federacije Bosne i Hercegovine (ed.): Izjava o mreži za 2011. godinu . Broj UD 5001/2011. Sarajevo 2011 (Bosnian).
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} HŽ Infrastruktura doo: Izvješće o mreži 2014 . (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: hzinfra.hr. December 5, 2012, formerly in the original ; accessed on June 28, 2013 (Croatian, download only).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  
3. ↑ Bosnian-Herzegovinian Railways. In: Viktor von Röll (ed.): Encyclopedia of the Railway System . 2nd Edition. Volume 2: Building Design - Brazil . Urban & Schwarzenberg, Berlin / Vienna 1912, p.  468 (Section: VIII. Railway plans).
4. ↑ ^{a b} Historija. Željeznice Federacije Bosne i Hercegovine , accessed on January 17, 2020 (Bosnian). 
5. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Mirza Sadiković: Unska pruga, ili kako opet 'Brzim preko Bosne'. Inicijativu za stavljanje u promet ove saobraćajnice pokrenuli su u federalnom Parlamentu zastupnici iz Unsko-sanskog kantona. Al Jazeera Balkans , January 11, 2016, accessed January 31, 2020 (Bosnian). 
6. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Voz koji bi povezao BiH sa Jadranom i Crnim morem. N1 Info, December 9, 2014, accessed January 31, 2018 (Bosnian). 
7. ↑ ^{a b} Mirza Sadiković: Unska pruga - svijetla perspective i tužna realnost. Ovom prugom se prije rata prevozilo više od milion putnika i četiri miliona tona roba i bila je značajna za cijelu regiju. Al Jazeera Balkans , May 23, 2017, accessed January 19, 2020 (Bosnian). 
8. ↑ ^{a b c d} S. Tulić: Iz dalmatinskih luka traže obnovu Unske pruge, privredne žile kucavice. Stotinjak kilometara kraća veza između Splita i Zagreba od Ličke pruge. Dnevni avaz , January 18, 2020, accessed January 22, 2020 (Bosnian). 
9. ↑ Hrvatske Željeznice po: Vozni red 29.V.1994. - 24.IX.1994. Zagreb 1994, p. 216f.
10. ↑ ^{a b} Mirza Sadiković: Unska pruga - lijek za bosansku i dalmatinsku tugu. Davno su minuli dani kada su šibenski i splitski studenti preko Knina, Bihaća i Siska žurili prema kontinentu. Al Jazeera Balkans , April 15, 2018, accessed January 31, 2020 (Bosnian). 
11. ↑ ^{a b} Samir Tulić: Žurne mjere za revitalizaciju Unske pruge. Imati željezničku infrastructureu čija se vrijednost procjenjuje na više od 2.5 milijardi KM prilika je za gospodarski razvoj cijelog USŽ. Večernij list, December 30, 2015, accessed January 19, 2020 (Bosnian). 
12. ↑ Privremena obustava prometa na tri Dionice Pruga. Ministarstvo mora, prometa i infrastrukture, May 12, 2010, accessed on January 19, 2020 (Croatian). 
13. ↑ Edvard Šprljan: UNSKA PRUGA Za sanaciju treba 15 milijuna kuna, ali HŽ-u to zasad nije u planu. Slobodna Dalmacija , April 1, 2012, accessed January 21, 2020 (Croatian). 
14. ↑ Saopćenje za javnost povodom ukidanja putničkih linija Bihać – Bosanski Novi i Tuzla – Brčko. (PDF; 74 kB) In: ŽFBH - Press aktuelnosti (October 2012 - February 2013). Željeznice Federacije Bosne i Hercegovine (ŽFBH), November 28, 2012, p. 3 , accessed on January 4, 2015 (Bosnian). 
15. ^ Bosnia - Croatia railway re-opening initiative. Railway Gazette International , May 18, 2017, accessed May 18, 2017 . 
16. ↑ ^{a b} Nakon 27 godina uskoro voz na liniji Sarajevo - Bihać. N1 Info, January 16, 2018, accessed January 22, 2018 (Bosnian). 
17. ↑ ^{a b} Toma Bačić: Talgo trains to Bihać. In: Swiss Railway Review. No. 8–9 / 2018. Minirex, ISSN  1022-7113 , p. 426.
18. ↑ Odluka o određjvanju graničnih prelaza u Bosni i Hercegovini . In: Ovlaštena služba Doma naroda parliamentarians skupštine Bosne i Hercegovine (ed.): Službeni glasnik Bosne i Hercegovine . tape XVI , no. 39 , May 22, 2012, ISSN  1512-7486 (Bosnian, sllist.ba [PDF; 7.6 MB ; accessed on January 18, 2020]).
19. ↑ Update of the list of border crossing points in accordance with Article 2 (8) of Regulation (EC) No. 562/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Community code for people crossing borders (Schengen Borders Code) . In: European Union (ed.): Official Journal of the European Union C . No. 242 , 23 August 2013, p. 2–12 ( eur-lex.europa.eu [accessed January 18, 2020]).

literature

• Elmar Oberegger: The most important main railways . Sattledt 2007 (On the railway history of the Alps-Danube-Adriatic region 3).

Web links

Commons : Novi Grad – Knin railway line  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Article “Una-Bahn” in the encyclopedia on the railway history of the Alps-Danube-Adriatic region. -Internet 2006 ff.
• Photos of the route and the journey of the first and so far only continuous passenger train after the war (January 26, 2001)
• Video of a trip with the special train from Kulen Vakuf to Bihać (YouTube)