| Agnita railway line | |
| Type: | Narrow-gauge |
| System: | Căile Ferate Române |
| Status: | Closed |
| Locale: | Sibiu County, Romania Historically also Mureș County |
| Start: | Sighișoara |
| End: | Sibiu |
| Stations: | 8 (Historically: 19) |
| Open: | 1898 & 1910 |
| Close: | 1965 & 2001 |
| Owner: | CFR Infrastructură |
| Operator: | CFR Călători[1] |
| Character: | Rural Branch line |
| Linelength: | Sibiu–Agnita (Historically: Sibiu–Sighișoara) |
| Tracks: | 1 |
| Map State: | collapsed |
The Agnita railway line was a 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.
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]
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]