9/16/2024
Tunnels and Viaducts
When you are carried by a dashing Leo Express train from Prague to Bohumín, you might not be aware that trains have travelled this way for nearly two centuries. And many monuments of those pioneering days are still there.
Master Builder
A major part of the credit for our oldest railways goes to the Czech engineer Jan Perner. He worked on the construction of the Brno-Vienna from 1837, and succeeded with his proposal for a Prague-Olomouc line in 1841. He constructed the 250 kilometres of railroad within four years, and rode on the first train to the Prague Station (today’s Masaryk Station) on 20 August 1845.
Favorite Connections
🛤️ No Railway without Tunnels!
Did we say Choceň Tunnel? Maybe you have just travelled through Choceň and did not see any. But it used to be there! It was the oldest railway tunnel in the country. It was finished in July 1845 and worked for a century. Then it was pulled down to create a deep cutting through which the railway goes at present. The train enters it just after it leaves the Choceň station when heading from Prague. The Třebovice Tunnel met a similar fate in 2005, so only one of the original three tunnels remains to this day. Trains no longer pass through the Tatenice Tunnel, but it has escaped destruction. It was partly filled, but enthusiasts can admire its northern part between Tatenice and Krasíkov.
The Beauty of Viaducts
If you count viaducts on the way from Přerov to Hranice, you might arrive at two or five. It depends on what you count. The brick viaduct over the River Velička just before you enter Hranice was built in 1846. A parallel stone bridge joined it in 1873 to carry the second track. The construction of the third concrete viaduct began in 1910 and lasted until 1939. Trains used the brick viaduct until 2001.
TEXT: Jakub Jukl
FOTO: Shutterstock.com
The whole article can be found in the autumn issue of the Leo Express Magazine
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