Čierny Hron Railway

About

The Čierny Hron Railway (in Slovak: Čiernohronská železnica or ČHŽ) is a narrow gauge railway in the Slovak Ore Mountains, built as a forest railway for logging operations.

Planning for the railway began in 1898 and building began in 1908. In 1909 regular wood transport on the railway started, between Čierny Balog and Hronec. The network was extended to transport wood from the forests and by the middle of the 20th century the railway had a total length of 131,97 km, the most extensive forestry railway network in Czechoslovakia.

On 19 July 1927, passenger traffic was permitted on the railway between Čierny Balog and Hronec, which operated until 1962.

The railway was closed in 1982, but it has been granted national heritage status since. During the following few years it was repaired by enthusiasts and re-opened in 1992 as a heritage railway for tourists. The line is now 17 km (11 mi) long: Chvatimech - Hronec - Čierny Balog - Vydrovo.

The line is believed to be the only railway in the world to pass through the middle of a football stadium, the tracks running along the front of a grandstand at the Tatran Čierny Balog stadium belonging to the TJ Tatran Čierny Balog club.

The management is seeking to restore the line as a working means of transportation through the resumption of commercial timber haulage and commuter service. For this reason, they acquired the secondhand 750mm-gauge interurban cars from the Waldenburgerbahn in Switzerland upon its regauging in 2021; test runs with diesel generators have been conducted with scheduled passenger service planned once the line is electrified.