Plain-Rhineland railway

First of all, the railway connection between the Alföld and the Hungarian port of Fiume was already discussed in the reform era, in 1843, despite the fact that this direction was not included in Act XXV of 1836, nor was it part of István Széchenyi's transport development plan of 1848.

First in the 1850s, and then again in the 1860s, the idea of this line was raised again, as its construction would have made it possible to transport agricultural products from the lowlands directly to the port of Fiume, avoiding Pest-Buda. A group of investors obtained permission in 1862, and earthworks started the following year, and until 1868, with several stoppages, work progressed, often with the aim of alleviating the shortage caused by the poor harvest.

After the Compromise, the Hungarian government took the initiative, and two consortia competed for the railway, and when they merged, the licence was granted in Article VIII of Act VIII of 1868. Among the concessionaires were the Hungarian Hitelbank, the Commercial and Industrial Bank of Darmstadt, the Sab. cs. kir. industrial and commercial credit institute, representatives of the Károlyi, Rotschild, Sina and Wodianer families, but also, for example, Agoston Trefort.

According to the licence, the line was to be built from Oradea to Osijek, it was to be connected to the Oradea-Kolozsvár line, and the railway also included a branch line from Osijek to Villány.

The Rijeka Railway was therefore only Rijeka in name, the line only went as far as Osijek. The state provided interest insurance for the business up to Osijek, 36 500 forints per mile, which was to be understood as meaning that if the railway's net income did not reach this level, the difference was paid by the state. The licence was for 90 years from 1871, and the government was given the right to redeem the line after 30 years.

The company's share capital was set at HUF 37 million, of which 18 million was to be covered by shares and 19 million by a preferential loan. In the first round, 45 000 shares with a nominal value of HUF 200 each were to be issued, for which there was a significant oversubscription. Of the preference bonds, 30 000 were issued in HUF 200 denomination and were also oversubscribed many times over by the market, so both the share and bond issues were successful.

Construction began in 1868, and the entire authorised line was opened in several stages on 14 September 1871. The line crossed three major rivers, the Tisza, the Danube and the Drava, each in a different way. The country's first free-arch railway bridge over 100 metres was built on the Tisza at Algyő, although the floodplain sections were still made of wood. On the Drava, a wooden bridge was built, while on the Danube, trains were ferried across by ferry instead of a bridge.

The company operated profitably, and in addition to freight traffic, it also carried a lively passenger traffic (the trains were mixed, class I-IV coaches).

The railways have been overshadowed by two disasters. On the one hand, the 1879 Szeged flood damaged the track, causing a six-month traffic stoppage and considerable financial damage. The other disaster was caused by flooding: on 23 September 1882, the overflowing Drava swept away a section of the huge 420-metre wooden bridge, which collapsed under a passing train. The accident killed 22 people (28 according to other sources, 26 of them passengers and 2 workers who were working on the bridge) and injured 22 others. The train was carrying soldiers, members of the 15th Hussars.

The bridge was not rebuilt, but an iron bridge was built next to it, as previously decided, but traffic was still disrupted for three months. The municipality paid out a total of HUF 16 000 in compensation to the victims.

Despite the fact that the company was profitable, this profit was not sufficient, and its profitability did not reach a level that would have covered the interest and repayment of the senior loan.

Article XXIV of Law 1883 authorised the State to take over the railway lines in the above situation and either operate them itself or transfer them to a private railway company for operation. In addition to the economic reasons, the railways were wedged into the MÁV network, i.e. the reasons of MÁV's traffic and thus the implementation of the State's transport policy made it necessary to redeem the railways.

The State took over the company on 1 January 1885 by a contract concluded on 29 April 1884, making use of the opportunity provided by the above law.

The railway had a significant impact on its surroundings, mainly by generating new urban areas in towns where stations were located further away from the city, and by connecting the railway to several narrow-gauge economic railways that later joined it, thus linking the whole region to trade.

Points of interest

The trains were unimaginably slow, even by today's standards, with the Oradea - Osijek route being covered in 17 hours 35 minutes, of which the pure journey time was 11 hours 5 minutes, the rest being the time spent at the stations. Only the Oradea - Szeged distance alone took more than 9 hours, with freight trains travelling even more slowly.

In this slow running time, which increased only slightly during the period, the delay caused by the Gombosi ferry was therefore not considered exceptional. The ferry itself took 30 minutes. The steam ferry operated until 1911, when MÁV built a bridge over the Danube

Sources

• Hungarian Railway History 1-2 (Editor-in-Chief Dr. László Kovács) MÁV, Budapest, 1995
• Vörös L. (ed.): Hungarian Railway Yearbook 1-6 (1878-1885)
• Gergely Fritz and Ákos Grátzer: The Coastal Railway, iho.hu
• László Blazovich: From the Alföld-Fiumei Railway to the railway tram. segedfolyoirat.sk-szeged.hu

Date of foundation: 1867

Date of cessation: 1885

Founders: count Langrand-Dumonceau, Hungarian General Credit Bank

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Main activity: railway services

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Author: by Domonkos Csaba