Prussian heritage lines History of rail transport in Poland

1 prussian heritage lines

1.1 upper silesian railway company
1.2 lower silesian-mark railway
1.3 william railway
1.4 silesian mountain railway
1.5 stargard–poznań railway
1.6 prussian eastern railway
1.7 prussian state railways
1.8 Öls–adelnau–ostrów line

prussian heritage lines

(märkischer bahnhof (markish station) in breslau (wrocław ), 1880


upper silesian railway company

in 1842, upper silesian railway company, licensed since 1839, opened first 2 sections of main line: breslau (polish: wrocław) ohlau (polish: oława) on 22 may , ohlau (polish: oława) brieg (polish: brzeg) in august. these oldest railway sections of present poland. step step upper silesian railway (oberschlesische eisenbahn, ose) line extended, in 1846 connecting katowice. in 1847 mysłowice @ border of austrian galicia reached , connection kraków , upper silesian railway complete.

in 1856 upper silesian railway company built line breslau (wrocław) posen (polish: poznań), , took on administration of stargard–poznań railway, in order control traffic between silesia , port of stettin (polish: szczecin).

oberschlesische schmalspurbahn (ossb)

in 1851 inside standard gauge main line, upper silesian railway company started build narrow gauge network, connecting local mining trams. oberschlesische schmalspurbahn (ossb) survived nationalization of standard gauge lines, , in 2 steps 1920 , 1945 became present day górnośląskie koleje wąskotorowe (gkw). time extended top length of 233.5 km in 1965. small rest still busy, offering tourist passenger service.

lower silesian-mark railway

in 1843, lower silesian-mark railway (german: niederschlesisch-märkische eisenbahn-gesellschaft, nme) opened first section breslau (polish: wrocław) königszelt (polish: jaworzyna Śląska). in 1846 line joining breslau (polish: wrocław) berlin completed.

william railway

1846 1848 william railway (german: wilhelmsbahn, polish: kolej wilhelma) built in prussian upper silesia link upper silesian railway (polish: kolej górnośląska, german: oberschlesische eisenbahn) cosel (polish: koźle, in polish town kędzierzyn-koźle) emperor ferdinand northern railway (german: kaiser ferdinand nordbahn, czech: severní dráha císaře ferdinanda) in austrian silesia czech silesia. junction , terminus of both lines @ border in oderberg (czech: bohumín, polish: bogumin). junction provided communication between berlin , vienna between warsaw or kraków , vienna.

silesian mountain railway

the silesian mountain railway görlitz via lauban (polish: lubań) , hirschberg (polish: jelenia góra) waldenburg (polish: wałbrzych) opened in 1867 , extended glatz (polish: kłodzko) in 1880.

the station of poznań in 1863


stargard–poznań railway

poznań connected berlin via stettin (szczecin) in 1848 erecting stargard–poznań railway.

prussian eastern railway

at same, prussian eastern railway planned berlin königsberg (present day kaliningrad), passing through stations küstrin (kostrzyn nad odrą), schneidemühl (piła), bromberg (bydgoszcz) branch danzig (gdańsk). station of kreuz (krzyż) @ crossing point of stettin–poznań , berlin–königsberg had been laid out latter line trunk. parts of main line opened in 1852, construction of bridges across oder river @ küstrin (kostrzyn) , vistula , nogat rivers between dirschau (tczew) , marienburg (malbork) not completed before 1857.

in 1867, 2 other lines opened: stettin/szczecin danzig/gdańsk via stargard szczeciński, belgard (białogard), köslin (koszalin) , lauenburg in pommern (lębork); frankfurt poznań via reppen (rzepin) , bentschen (zbąszyń).

prussian state railways

an economic crisis caused speculation in railway shares hit stocks in germany , austria in 1875. chancellor of germany, otto von bismarck, supported elimination of speculation on railway joint-stock companies. supported state s compulsory purchase of railways private owners, introduction of exclusive goods rate transport of agricultural products pomerania , east prussia berlin.

prussia nationalized railways in 1880 in effort both lower rates on freight service , equalize rates among shippers. however, instead of lowering rates far possible, government ran railways profit-making undertaking, , railway profits became major source of state revenue. nationalization of railways slowed economic development of prussia because state favoured relatively backward agricultural areas in railway building. moreover, railway surpluses substituted development of adequate tax system.

in 1893, prussian state railways introduced first modern fast trains (in german d-zug ) using new steam locomotive (s2/pkp class pd1) reach speed of 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph). trains included 4-axle bogie coaches compartments , side corridor , covered gangways (corridor trains). 1 such fast train route berlin bromberg , danzig. in 1898, first locomotive using superheated steam in world, designed wilhelm schmidt, produced vulkan company in stettin prussian state railways (kpev hannover 74 s4). opened new age of steam locomotive development. construction of prototypes of superheated steam locomotive classes robert garbe started in 1902. these were: s4 (pkp class pd2) fast trains, p6 (pkp class oi1) per passenger trains , g8 (pkp class tp3) goods trains.

in same year malborsko–mławska railway (the last large private railway under prussian rule) nationalized.

1906 saw continued production of famous standard superheated steam locomotive classes garbe in linke-hofmann locomotive factory in breslau prussian state railways. 584 of s6/pkp class pd5 produced, of 82 units operated polish state railways (pkp). approximately 4000 of p8/pkp class ok1 produced, of 257 operated pkp before world war ii, , 429 after war. 1 of these, ok1-359, preserved in working order @ wolsztyn museum.

Öls–adelnau–ostrów line

in 1910, Öls–adelnau–ostrów line / oleśnica–odolanów–ostrów wielkopolski line shortened connection between wrocław–Łódź , warsaw opened. construction of prototype of long series 5-axle prussian cargo locomotive g10 (pkp class tw1) exchange chamber steam locomotive p8 (pkp class ok1) garbe took place same year. 3 years later, production of cargo locomotive g8.1 of prussian state railways (pkp class tp4) in f. schichau factory in elbing commenced. final production figures 5267 items (459 items pkp). second longest locomotive series in europe.