The Vurpăr branch line was a narrow-gauge rail line Sibiu County,

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 stretched from Cornăţel on the Agnita railway line to the terminus in

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 ...

. CFR classed the line, along with the Agnita railway line, 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 ga ...

holds locomotives used on the lines.

History

The line was originally opened by the Sighisoara - Sibiu Local Railways Company in 1910. 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 closure in 1993.

Reopening

Societatea Feroviară de Turism (SFT) originally planned to reopen the line as a tourist route but plans where 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 along with the Agnita railway line.

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vurpar branch line Agnita railway line Railway lines opened in 1910 Railway lines closed in 1993