Austrian Southern Railway
The Austrian Southern Railway is a long double track railway, which linked the capital Vienna with Trieste, the former main seaport of Austria-Hungary, by railway for the first time. It now forms the Southern Railway in Austria and the Spielfeld-Straß–Trieste railway in Slovenia and Italy.
Construction and history
- 1829: Austrian railway pioneer Franz Xaver Riepl proposed a railway connection from Vienna to the Adriatic Sea, bypassing the Eastern Alps and running via Bruck an der Leitha, Magyaróvár and Szombathely through the west edge of Hungary (1538–1867)|Hungary], and then via Maribor and Ljubljana to Trieste. His plans were adopted by entrepreneur Georgios Sinas. At the same time plans for a direct connection through the Alps were developed and promoted by Archduke John of Austria to open up the Styrian lands beyond Semmering Pass.
- 1839: Departing from the original plans of a connection via Hungary, construction works started on the initial section which ran southwards between Baden, Lower Austria and Wiener Neustadt.
- 1841: Carl Ritter von Ghega started to survey the terrain of the Semmering Pass.
- 5 May 1842: The line from Wien Südbahnhof was completed to Gloggnitz at the northern foot of the Semmering Pass.
- 21 October 1844: South of the Semmering Pass, the line from Graz northward to Mürzzuschlag ) opened; its construction was led by von Ghega.
- 2 June 1846: The southern continuation to Celje was inaugurated.
- 1849: The line was extended to Ljubljana.
- 1848 to 1854: The section over the Semmering Pass was built.
- 17 July 1854: The direct railway connection from Vienna to Ljubljana was inaugurated.
- 1854 to 1857: The final section across the Karst Plateau was built.
- 12 July 1857: The first through train from Vienna to Trieste ran.
- 23 May 1858: The railway was sold to the newly established Austrian Southern Railway Company.
- 1919: In the Treaty of Saint-Germain after World War I, Austria-Hungary was dissolved. Austria lost all of the Southern Railway south of the station at Spielfeld, which became the new border station to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
- 1923: The Austrian Federal Railways took over the Austrian section.
- 1966: The tracks from Vienna to Graz and Slovenia were completely electrified.
- 2007: Border controls were abolished with Slovenia's accession to the Schengen Area.
Borovnica viaduct
The 561 m long and 38 m high Borovnica railway viaduct in Borovnica, Slovenia, was completed in 1856. The viaduct was badly damaged during World War II and demolished completely a few years after.Current
The section from Graz to the Slovenian border, which had been downgraded to a single track railway in the 1950s, is currently again rebuilt as a double track line.On the Slovenian section, work is in progress to upgrade and renovate Pragersko railway station as well as the line and railway crossings from Maribor to Celje. A new viaduct and tunnel are being built between Maribor and Pesnica. The old route will be turned into a bike path.
The upgrades in Maribor railway station, Slovenska Bistrica railway station, Poljčane railway station and Celje railway station have already been completed.