Hatvan– Fiľakovo railway is a non-electrified railway connecting Hatvan,

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 ...

with

Fiľakovo Fiľakovo (; hu, Fülek, german: Fülleck, tr, Filek) is a town in the Banská Bystrica Region of south-central Slovakia. Historically it was located in Nógrád County, as part of the Nógrád, Novohrad, "Newcastle" region. Geography It is loc ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. Once a major connecting railway, the line currently sees only local Regionalbahn service and local goods traffic. It is double tracked from Hatvan to Selyp, then single tracked for the remainder of the distance to

. It is a class 3 passenger and goods line from Hatvan to Salgótarján, then becomes a class 4 line from there to

. The line has utilized

clock-face scheduling A clock-face schedule or cyclic schedule is a timetable system under which public transport services run at consistent intervals, as opposed to a timetable that is purely driven by demand and has irregular headways. The name derives from the fact ...

operation since 2008, when direct

express train An express train is a type of passenger train that makes a small number of stops between its origin and destination stations, usually major destinations, allowing faster service than Local train, local trains that stop at most or all of the s ...

connecting service with

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

ended. The Hungarian portion is designated as line 81 and the Slovakian portion is line 164.

History

The construction of the

Pest Pest or The Pest may refer to: Science and medicine * Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns ** Weed, a plant considered undesirable * Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection ** ...

- Salgótarján railway line was started by the Saint Stephen Coal Mining Company in 1863. The company was founded by railroad engineer Johann Brellich and mining engineer Gregor Windsteig. Their goal is to connect the Nógrád coal deposits with the capital. The railway line between

and Hatvan was completed in 1867, this is part of today's (No. 80) Budapest–Miskolc railway line and between Hatvan and Salgótarján. The Salgótarján Coal Mine Corporation was established, which became the largest mining company in the country. The railway construction company declared

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

in 1868, so the line was taken over by 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 ...

(MÁV), whose first line it was. The continuation of the line was handed over to Lučenec in 1871, the

- Lučenec section of which is part of today's (Nr. 160) line. The Salgótarján railway station, today's "Salgótarján outer", was in the southern part of the city, the stop in the city center was opened in 1913. The railway reservoir suppliers are the

lignite Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...

mines and the factories of the settlements. Plans were made to electrify the railway line in 1917, but this was no longer realized. In the

Hungarian–Czechoslovak War The Hungarian–Czechoslovak War, or Northern Campaign ( hu, északi hadjárat), was fought between the Hungarian Soviet Republic and the First Czechoslovak Republic from April to June 1919. Background At the end of 1918, the final year of Wor ...

the ownership of

coal mines Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

became an important issue, and the Hungarian side also used armoured train in the fighting. The national border was changed several times: 1920-1924: between Salgótarján and Somoskőújfalu, 1924-1938: between Somoskőújfalu and Šiatorská Bukovinka. After 1938, the entire line once again belonged to

. On May 7, 1939, the ''Golden Train'' carrying Holy Right of

Saint Stephen Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ''Stéphanos'', meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", often given as a title rather than as a name; c. 5 – c. 34 AD) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first ...

was also taken to Salgótarján on this line. The originally two-track railway suffered serious damage in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Today's border was established on the basis of the Paris Peace of 1947 and again crosses the railway line between Somoskőújfalu and Šiatorská Bukovinka. For strategic reasons, the line was rebuilt on only one track. In international traffic, before 1918 the

–

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

train, and after 1945 the Warszawa– Beograd train, was the most significant. The last international

(

–

Zvolen Zvolen (; hu, Zólyom; german: Altsohl) is a town in central Slovakia, situated on the confluence of Hron and Slatina rivers, close to Banská Bystrica. It is surrounded by Poľana mountain from the East, by Kremnické vrchy from the West an ...

) was discontinued in 2008. In 2011, the Slovak side stopped the passenger transport between

and Somoskőújfalu, and thus the international passenger transport ceased. The exhaustion of the mines and the lack of a second track contributed to the decline in traffic on the line. Several

industrial railways Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

were established in connection with the stations of the line, which mostly existed on a narrow gauge. Unique among them was the 6 km long cog railway to the Somlyó mining site established by the in 1881, as well as a cable car.

Engineering facts

The Belgian Cockerill’s locomotives were the first on the railway line till the 1920s. It was changed to

MÁV Class 424 The MÁV class 424 is a famous class of Hungarian steam locomotives. The class appears in numerous nostalgic remembrances, in literature, in the movies and as models. The 424 class is a double-chimneyed, superheated machine. Its nicknames were "B ...

and later to

MÁV Class 411 The MÁV Class 411 was a class of steam locomotives used by Hungarian railways. History After World War II, Hungary, like many of the war-torn European countries, suffered a severe shortage of motive power, with much of the MÁV stock either dam ...

series. In the 1980s there came the first diesel engine locomotives, such as and

M62 locomotive The M62 is a Soviet-built diesel locomotive for heavy freight trains, exported to many Eastern Bloc countries as well as to Cuba, North Korea and Mongolia. Beside the single locomotive M62 also twin versions 2M62 and three-section versions 3M62 hav ...

series. They were used for passenger and freight trains respectively. There was a time when there ran some trains as well. Since the change of the timetable in 2008, there run units on the line, which belong to the Engineering Office of Szentes.

are used for freight transport, and were moved to the Szentes. There are several types of signalling controls at the line. , a production of Telephone Factory of Budapest based on the license of

Integra Signum {{Short description, Swiss railroad company (c. 1890–1992) Integra Signum was a publicly traded Swiss company active in train control and signaling systems. Its main achievement was the development of the train control system Integra-Signum, whic ...

and

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...

is in use between Selyp and Hatvan, but it may be found at Salgótarján külső and Somoskőújfalu as well. Here guards are changed automatically, and

traffic lights Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic. Traffic light ...

are guarded ones. At Apc-Zagyvaszántó, Pásztó, Nagybátony and Kisterenye stations guards are Siemens & Halske type. The level crossings are mostly insured. At stations of Szurdokpüspöki, Tar and Zagyvapálfalva railroad switch are locally usable.

Attractions near the line

* Old part of

Hollókő Hollókő () is a Palóc ethnographic village in Hungary and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its name means "Raven-stone" in Hungarian. Location The village is located in Nógrád county, approximately 91.1 kilometres northeast from Budapest, th ...

, part of World Heritage Sites is near Pásztó station. *

Mátraszentimre Mátraszentimre ( sk, Alkár) is a village in Heves County, Northern Hungary Region, Hungary. Parts of the village * Mátraszentimre * Mátraszentistván * Mátraszentlászló * Bagolyirtás * Fallóskút * Galyatető Sights to visit * The cath ...

is a ski resort place, near to Pásztó station * Castle ruins of Hasznos, near Mátraszőlős-Hasznos stop * Stupa of Sándor Kőrösi Csoma, near

Tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black bit ...

station * National place of worship in Szentkút, near

Mátraverebély Mátraverebély is a village in Nógrád County, Hungary, beside of the Zagyva river, between the Cserhát and Mátra mountain ranges. As of 2022 census, it has a population of 1752 (see Demographics). The main road 21 go across the village, wh ...

stop * Gyürky-Solymossy Castle is in front of the Kisterenye station. * Castle of Somoskő and

Salgó Castle Salgó Castle is a Hungarian stronghold near Salgótarján, Nógrád county, 120 km from Budapest. Originally built as a tower by the Kacsics clan in the 13th century to withstand the Mongol invasions of the 13th century, it was later renovated ...

, near Somoskőújfalu station File:Holloko_Village_Center.jpg,

File:Mátraszentimre,_Hungary_-_panoramio.jpg,

Ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

File:Cserteri_vár_légi_felvételen_(Hasznos).jpg, Hasznos castle ruins File:Tari_sztúpa.JPG, Stupa of Sándor Kőrösi Csoma File:MatraverebelySzentkutFotoThalerTamas13.jpg, Szentkút File:Gyürky-Solymossy_Kastély.jpg, Gyürky-Solymossy Castle File:Somoskő2.jpg, Castle of Somoskő

Images

File:Hatvan_railway_station.JPG, Hatvan station File:Mátravidéki_Erőmű_S.JPG, Mátravidék Power Plant station File:Lorinci2016allomas.jpg, Lőrinci stop File:Selyp_vasútállomás,_2020_Lőrinci.jpg, Selyp station File:Railway_station,_2020_Jobbágyi.jpg, Jobbágyi stop File:Pásztó_railway_station_04.jpg, Pásztó station File:Mátraszőlős-Hasznos_train_stop,_2020_Tar.jpg, Mátraszőlős-Hasznos stop File:15.09.96_Tar_750.110_(14006462344).jpg, Tar station File:Train_stop,_2020_Mátraverebély.jpg, Mátraverebély stop File:Nagybátony_railway_station2.JPG, Nagybátony station File:Kisterenye.jpg, Kisterenye station File:KTerenye_Bt_6341.JPG, Kisterenye-Bányatelep stop File:Bahnhof,_2020_Zagyvapálfalva.jpg, Zagyvapálfalva station File:Salgótarján külső railway station, track side, 2020 Salgótarján.jpg, Salgótarján külső station File:Salgótarján_railway_station_1.jpg, Salgótarján stop File:Somoskőújfalu_station_1.jpg, Somoskőújfalu station File:Fiľakovo - Železničná stanica.jpg, Fiľakovo station

References

External links

Benbe.hu - Pictures about the railway line

Vasutallomasok.hu - Pictures about the railway stations

Official database of the railway line
Railway lines in Hungary Railway lines in Slovakia Cross-border railway lines in Hungary Cross-border railway lines in Slovakia {{Commons category