Ruszów–Gozdnica railway
| Ruszów–Gozdnica railway | |
|---|---|
Abandoned tracks near Ruszów before they were dismantled in 2015 | |
| Overview | |
| Status | Closed |
| Line number | PKP 339 |
| Locale | Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Lubusz Voivodeship, Poland |
| Termini | |
| History | |
| Opened | 1 December 1896 |
| Closed | 2006 |
| Dismantled | 2015 |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 8.42 km (5.23 mi) |
| Number of tracks | 1 |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
The Ruszów–Gozdnica railway was a single-track railway line connecting Ruszów railway station in Ruszów and Gozdnica railway station in Gozdnica in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz Voivodeships of south-western Poland.
The line closed in 2006, with it being dismantled in 2015.[1]
History
The line was opened by the Lusatian Railway Company on 1 December 1896.[2] It was built for and mainly used to transport Gozdnica's ceramic works.[3] On 1 January 1939, the Lusatian Railway Company was nationalised, becoming part of the Deutsche Reichsbahn.[4] At the time, it took between 18 and 22 minutes for a passenger train to cover the whole 8.42 km (5.23 mi) line.[5]
After World War II, the area was placed under Polish administration as the Oder–Neisse line became the new border between Germany and Poland. In the summer of 1945, the Red Army dismantled the tracks of the whole line to under 'war reparations'.[6]
Since the line was crucial for transporting Gozdnica's ceramic works,[3] the line was rebuilt, and reopened on 4 May 1947, by Polish State Railways.[1] Two passenger trains ran on the line, one in the morning, and one in the evening.
On 26 October 1962, passenger train services were withdrawn. Freight trains still ran until 1999, with the line remaining operational until it closed in 2006.[1] The last train arrived into Gozdnica on 28 April 2002, a special tourist train service, operated by a Ty3-2 steam locomotive.[7]
References
- ^ a b c "Linia Ruszów – Gozdnica (339)". Ogólnopolska Baza Kolejowa (in Polish). Retrieved 27 October 2025.
- ^ "339 Ruszów - Gozdnica". Atlas Kolejowy (in Polish). Retrieved 27 October 2025.
- ^ a b "CRH KLINKIER Gozdnica". polska-org.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 27 October 2025.
- ^ "Lausitzer Eisenbahn AG". ZBW (in Polish and German). 1895–1939. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
- ^ "Deutsches Kursbuch Sommer 1939". deutsches-kursbuch.de (in German). Retrieved 27 October 2025.
- ^ "Stacja kolejowa Ruszów" [Ruszów railway station]. polska-org.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 27 October 2025.
- ^ "Ostatni pociąg z pasażerami na stacji Gozdnica" [Last passenger train in Gozdnica]. polska-org.pl (in Polish). 28 April 2002. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
Bibliography
- Kuchinke, Stephan (2000). Die Localbahn Aktiengesellschaft. Eine bayerische Privatbahn und ihre Geschichte (in German). Stuttgart. ISBN 3-613-71125-7.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Bürnheim, Hermann (1974). Localbahn A.-G. München (in German). Gifhorn: Kleinbahn-Bücher. ISBN 3-921237-21-1.
External links
- Media related to Railway line 339 (Poland) at Wikimedia Commons