The Agnita railway line was a 760 mm (2 ft 5+1516 in) Bosnian gauge rail line in Sibiu County, Romania. Originally it ran 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. Căile Ferate Române (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
Termini
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
Track gauge760 mm (2 ft 5+1516 in) Bosnian gauge
Route map

 300  to Basarab
Sighișoara
 300  to Oradea
Șaeș River
Șaeș
Șaeș River
Apold
Brădeni
Netuș
Iacobeni
Stejărișu
Ruja
Agnita
Coveș River
Vărd
Benești
Alțâna
Nocrich
Țichindeal
Hosman
Vurpăr
Roșia
Cornățel
Cașolț
Bolovani
 200  to Brașov
Șelimbăr
Sibiu Triaj
Ateliere zonă
Sibiu
 200  to Curtici

History

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The line was originally built by the Sighișoara – 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

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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; it 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 Cornățel station.[7]

Bibliography

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  • 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

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  1. ^ "CFR Interactive Map". Archived from the original on 31 July 2015. 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.