The Agnita railway line was a rail line in

Sibiu County Sibiu County () is a county ( ro, județ) of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Its county seat ( ro, reședință de județ) is the namesake town of Sibiu (german: Hermannstadt). Name In Hungarian, it is known as ''Szeben ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. Originally it ran from

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

Sighișoara Sighișoara (; hu, Segesvár ; german: Schäßburg ; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Schäsbrich''; yi, שעסבורג, Shesburg; la, Castrum Sex) is a city on the Târnava Mare River in Mureș County, Romania. Located in the historic region of Transy ...

Mureș County Mureș County (, ro, Județul Mures, hu, Maros megye) is a county ('' județ'') of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania, with the administrative centre in Târgu Mureș. The county was established in 1968, after the administrative ...

. There also was a branch line to

Vurpăr Vurpăr (german: Burgberg; hu, Vurpód) is a commune in Sibiu County, Transylvania, central Romania. It is composed of a single village, Vurpăr. It lies on the Transylvanian Plateau in the central part of the county, northeast of the county ...

. However the final section from Sibiu to Agnita was closed in 2001.

Căile Ferate Române Căile Ferate Române (; abbreviated as the CFR) is the state railway carrier of Romania. As of 2014, the railway network of Romania consists of , of which (37.4%) are electrified. The total track length is , of which (38.5%) are electrifie ...

(CFR) classed the line, along with the Vurpăr branch, as line 204 in the last years of operation. The

Sibiu Steam Locomotives Museum The Steam Locomotives Museum ( ro, Muzeul locomotivelor cu abur) is a railway museum in Sibiu, Romania. It houses a collection of steam locomotives and engines. Inaugurated in 1994, the museum comprises 23 standard gauge locomotives, 10 narrow gau ...

holds the last remaining original locomotive from 1896.

History

The line was originally built by the Sighișoara – Sibiu Local Railways Company which started work from Sighișoara in 1895 reaching

Agnita Agnita (; german: Agnetheln; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Ongenîtlen''; hu, Szentágota) is a town on the Hârtibaciu river in Sibiu County, Transylvania, central Romania. It is considered the locality in the center of the country. The town administer ...

by 1898 and Sibiu in 1910. The Vurpăr branch was opened at the same time as the Sibiu extension. As the line originally lay within

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, the

Hungarian State Railways Hungarian State Railways ( hu, Magyar Államvasutak, MÁV) is the Hungarian national railway company, with divisions "MÁV START Zrt." (passenger transport), "MÁV-Gépészet Zrt." (maintenance), "MÁV-Trakció Zrt." and "MÁV Cargo Zrt" (freig ...

operated services until 1919, when

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

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 The Vurpăr branch line was a narrow-gauge rail line Sibiu County, Romania. Originally it stretched from Cornăţel on the Agnita railway line to the terminus in Vurpăr. CFR classed the line, along with the Agnita railway line, as line 204 in t ...

was closed, with the rest of the line following in 2001.

Reopening

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. 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.

Bibliography

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References

{{Reflist Railway lines opened in 1898 Railway lines closed in 2001