Galician Transversal Railway Explained

The Galician Transversal Railway (German: Galizische Transversalbahn, Polish: Galicyjska Kolej Transwersalna) was a railway system, opened in 1884 in the province of Galicia (Austria-Hungary). It was operated by a state-owned enterprise. The line ran from west to east, along the northern side of the Carpathian Mountains from Zwardoń to Zagórz,^[1] passing through the oil fields in the Carpathians.^[2]

The line was constructed to connect already existing lines into a continuous east-west route parallel to the main Galician Railway of Archduke Charles Louis route Kraków - Lwów, which would be less exposed to attacks in a war with the Russian Empire. The railway was also supposed to activate underdeveloped mountainous areas of Galicia.

The Transversal Railway started at Čadca (present-day Slovakia), and ended in Husiatyn (present-day Ukraine), with a total length of around 800 kilometers. The main towns located along the route are:

• Żywiec,
• Nowy Sącz,
• Jasło,
• Krosno,
• Sanok,
• Zagórz,
• Chyrów,
• Sambor,
• Drohobycz,
• Stryj,
• Stanisławów.

Before construction of the Transversal Railway began, several connections had already existed, such as:

• Zagórz – Krościenko – Chyrów (part of the Łupków – Przemyśl connection of the First Hungarian-Galician Railway, 1872),
• The Dniestr Railway, Chyrów – Sambor – Stryj (1872),
• The Archduke Albrecht Railway, Stryj – Dolina – Stanislawów (1873).
• Nowy Sącz – Stróże (part of the Tarnów – Plaveč connection, 1876)

The lines built within the Transversal Railway project totaled 577 kilometers and these were:

• Čadca – Zwardoń – Żywiec – Sucha Beskidzka – Chabówka – Limanowa – Nowy Sącz (together with side lines Suchá – Skawina – Kraków-Plaszów, and Skawina – Oświęcim),
• Stróze – Jasło – Sanok – Zagórz (together with a branch line to Gorlice),
• Chryplin (near Stanisławów) – Buczacz – Czortków – Husiatyn.

See also

• Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways
• History of rail transport in Poland
• Galician Railway of Archduke Charles Louis

Notes and References

1. Chaberko . Tomasz . 2008 . Historic train stations in Małopolskie Province during the railroad industry regression . Revija za geografijo . 2008 . 3–2 . 49–62 . 2023-12-22.
2. Kaim . Dominik . Taczanowski . Jakub . Szwagrzyk . Marcin . Ostafin . Krzysztof . 2020-06-03 . Railway network of Galicia and Austrian Silesia (1847-1914) . Journal of Maps . 16 . 1 . 132–137 . 10.1080/17445647.2020.1762774 . free . 2020JMaps..16..132K .