Agnita railway line

The Agnita railway line was a narrow-gauge rail line in Sibiu County, Romania. Originally it stretched from Sibiu railway station to Sighișoara[2] in Mureș County. There also was a branch line to Vurpăr. However the final section from Sibiu to Agnita was closed in 2001. CFR classed the line, along with the Vurpăr branch, as line 204 in the last years of operation. The Sibiu Steam Locomotives Museum holds the last remaining original locomotive from 1896.

Agnita railway line
The Agnita line joining the mainline.
Overview
StatusClosed
OwnerCFR Infrastructură
LocaleSibiu County, Romania
Historically also Mureș County
TerminiSighișoara
Sibiu
Stations8 (Historically 19)
Service
TypeNarrow-gauge
SystemCăile Ferate Române
Operator(s)CFR Călători[1]
History
Opened1898 & 1910
Closed1965 & 2001
Technical
Line lengthSibiu - Agnita 58 km (36 mi) (Historically Sibiu - Sighișoara 109 km (68 mi))
Number of tracks1
CharacterRural Branch line
Route map
Agnita railway line & Vurpăr branch map
Mainline 300 to Sighișoara
Angofa
Șaeș
Șaeș
Șaeș
Apold
Brădeni
Mureș County
Sibiu County
Netuș
Iacobeni
Stejărișu
Ruja
Agnita
Coveș
Coveș
Vărd
Benești
Alțâna
Nocrich
Vurpăr
Țichindeal
Roșia
Hosman
Cornățel
Cașolț
Bolovani
Mainline 200 to Sibiu

History

The line was originally built by the Sighisoara - Sibiu Local Railways Company which started work from Sighișoara in 1895 reaching Agnita by 1898 and Sibiu in 1910.[3] The Vurpăr branch was opened at the same time as the Sibiu extension. As the line originally lay within Hungary, the Hungarian State Railways operated services until 1919 (when Transylvania became part of Romania). CFR then continued to operate services until 1965 when the original section from Sighișoara to Agnita was closed. In 1993 the Vurpăr branch line was closed[4] with the rest of the line following in 2001.[5]

Reopening

Societatea Feroviară de Turism (SFT) originally planned to reopen the line as a tourist route but plans were shelved in 2006. After threats from CFR Infrastructură that track would be lifted all the rail infrastructure became protected as a historic monument in 2008.

Currently there is an active project called Asociația Prietenii Mocăniței ("Friends of the Narrow-gauge railway") and aimed at restoring the line for tourist operation and operates occasional tourist steam trains on parts of the line.[6]

The first steam event took place in Agnita in 2010 on the occasion of the Sibiu extension's centenary. There was a second event in September 2015 with special trains running from Cornăţel station.[7]

Bibliography

  • Lacriţeanu, Șerban (1995). "The Narrow Gauge Lines of the Romanian State Railway (CFR)". In Keith Chester (ed.). East European narrow gauge. Clevedon (UK): Channel View Publications. pp. 82–94. ISBN 1-873150-04-0.
  • Engelbert, Paul (2011). Schmalspurig durch Ungarn II: die ehemals ungarischen Gebiete (in German). Malmö: Stenvalls. ISBN 978-91-7266-177-6.

References

  1. "CFR Interactive Map". Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  2. "Beyond The Forest (Narrow-gauge)". Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  3. Lacriţeanu 1995, 86
  4. Engelbert 2011, 136
  5. "Spurfilm History". Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  6. "Sibiu Agnita railway Society". Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  7. "Sibiu Agnita railway Society's News". Retrieved 26 October 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.