7 Surprising Facts About the European Year of Railways and Fascinating Railway Curiosities

Railways are considered one of the safest ways to travel. They are also good for the environment, and experts believe that railways will become even more crucial in the future compared to their current significance. In the Czech Republic, the average rail network density is 121 kilometers per thousand square kilometers, making it one of the most extensive rail systems in the world, comparable to countries like Switzerland, Germany, and Luxembourg. Moreover, railway enthusiasts can enjoy noteworthy anniversaries almost every year. So, take a moment to check which of the following events falls on this year’s calendar!

1. The first horse-drawn railway in the Czech lands and the first railway in Britain

In southern Bohemia, you can find the remains of the horse-drawn railway that ran from České Budějovice to Linz. This line was the first on the European continent to offer public service. The construction of this historic railway began in summer 1825, while the trial operation between České Budějovice and Leopoldschlag began in September 1827. Regular service for the public commenced a year later, on 30 September 1828. However, the title of the first public railway in Europe goes to the Stockton-Darlington line in England, which started operating in 1821.

In 1825, the English made the groundbreaking decision to shift from using horses to transport coal, opting instead for a new creation: the steam locomotive! Following a trial of the initial Active locomotive, the famous steam locomotive Rocket emerged, transforming transportation forever. Back then, passengers could hardly believe their eyes as The Rocket achieved a speed of 19.2 kilometers per hour. Today, that pace is almost unheard of on highways, but at that time, it was revolutionary!

2. When did horses get replaced by steam locomotives?

Less widely known is the second horse-drawn railway in the Czech regions, which was intended to connect Prague and Pilsen but ultimately only ran to Lány. It officially started operations on 21 March 1830, transporting coal to Prague from Kladno. Eventually, steam locomotives phased out horse-drawn carriages on both railways. For the route from České Budějovice to Linz, which was originally served by 860 horses, the first locomotives were introduced in 1872, while the Bushrad railway had steam engines in use by 1856.

3. The first steam railway on the European continent or the first trains in Brno

The private railway company Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway launched the first segment of the line connecting Vienna to Breclav on 6 June 1839. A month later, on July 7, trains from Brno were also linked to Vienna. At approximately 11:00 a.m., after a journey of over four hours, four steam locomotives—Bruna, Hercules, Gigant, and Bucefalus—transported a total of 1,125 passengers in thirty-eight carriages, which included the railway’s builders, the Klein brothers, its investor Baron Rothschild, and various bankers from Vienna.

4. When did the first train reach Prague?

The construction of additional railways progressed rapidly. Operations began on the line stretching from Breclav to Prerov and onward to Olomouc in 1841, and it was in 1845 that the first train finally arrived in Prague. The momentous occasion took place at Masaryk Station, where the inaugural train’s arrival on 20 August 1845 was celebrated with cannon fire, smoke, and joyful noise. The locomotive, boasting a patriotic name, Bohemia, took seven hours and forty minutes for its first trip from Olomouc to Prague, but festivities at nearly every station extended this duration to ten hours. In June 1850, the Negrelli Viaduct in Prague officially opened, allowing the railway to extend further north.

5. 1855: the oldest preserved steam locomotive on Czech soil, known as Kladno

Who would have imagined that the oldest preserved steam locomotive in the Czech Republic would carry such a straightforward name? The Kladno locomotive, designed by Wilhelm Engerth, an Austrian track builder and locomotive designer, and completed in 1855, now stands proudly in the Transport Halls of the National Technical Museum. This machine, with the serial number 295, is not only the oldest of its type in the Czech Republic but also one of the three remaining examples of its kind in the world. Ordered by the Buštěhrad railway, it was primarily utilized for transporting coal from Kladno to Kralupy nad Vltavou. As we gaze at it today, we can only imagine how it once rolled along the tracks, driving the entire industrial region forward. Although it now enjoys a well-deserved retirement, who knows, maybe it still dreams of taking one more spin!

6. Hello, Matylda or Kafemlejnek: the first steam locomotive manufactured in our territory

Despite the fact that the Czech lands were among the most developed industrial areas in the Austro-Hungarian Empire by the end of the 19th century, locomotives were manufactured elsewhere. That changed on April 28, 1900, when workers at the Czech-Moravian Steam Engine Factory unveiled the first steam locomotive assembled in Czech territory. These locomotives of the 310 series were endearingly dubbed Hello, Matylda and Kafemlejnek, and for a time, they dominated the Czech railway landscape. They remained in service until 1968, and today, you can view them in the railway museum in Lužná near Rakovník, or spot the Kafemlejnek steam locomotive playing a significant role in the film “Páni kluci.”

7. Notable railway incidents

The first steam railway on the European continent, which began operations in 1839, ran from Vienna through Breclav to Brno. It also experienced a peculiar first: on the day of its inauguration, the very first railway accident took place. As four trains began their return journeys in the afternoon, two of them collided at Vranovice. Historical accounts indicate that the engineer of the Gigant-pulled train failed to brake in time, resulting in a crash into the rear of the other train. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries reported from this incident.

Meanwhile, the first trains connecting Paris to Brussels commenced operations in 1846. On October 22, 1895, a bizarre accident occurred at the Gare Montparnasse in Paris. A train rushing from Granville to Paris failed to halt in time upon entering the station and burst through the buffer stop, continued over the platform, smashed through the station’s front wall, and landed in the street below. The locomotive and tender fell straight into the tram stop located ten meters below, leaning against the wall. Luckily, all eleven carriages with 131 passengers remained safely in the station. Ironically, the locomotive was nearly unharmed, but extracting it took a whole four days. For all the chaos, there was only one casualty: a newspaper vendor struck down by a falling piece of masonry. Anyone who viewed this iconic image, found in various station cafés and restaurants, surely remembers it distinctly.