Railway has become an important prerequisite for economic and social development of the country. In 1837 the construction of the first European Railway Highway started. Its construction became a potential threat to market of agricultural goods and timber from western Slovakia. Therefore, a company was founded to build a horse railway that would link the five royal cities between
Bratislava and Trnava. The service was providing until the first half of the 19th century. At beginning, the construction of the railway was in the hands of the state. Later, in year 1854, the state entrusted railway building to private entrepreneurs.
1867–1873 The intensity of construction changed after settlement in 1867.
Ministry of Transport and Public Works was established. Its main objective was construction of transport communications independent of
Austria. In Slovakia this meant extensive construction of railways. In the period between 1867 and 1873 a number of major railways were built: • Košice – Žilina – Bohumín • Pešť – Fiľakovo – Lučenec – Zvolen – Vrútky • Michaľany – Humenné – Medzilaborce – Lupkov – Przemysl • Košice – Michaľany – Slovenské Nové Mesto – Čop • Bratislava – Trenčín • Prešov – Orlov – Tarnov • Fiľakovo – Plešivec – Dobšiná, Jesenské – Tisovec Hungary tried to use private capital for railway construction. The lack of funds threatened the construction of railways and Hungary started in 1868 to build railways on its own. The railway construction was accompanied by a series of scandals and
corruption affairs among
aristocracy, politicians and businessmen. In spite of this fact, the basis of the railway network was set up in relatively short time.
1873–1918 Bankruptcy of the Vienna
stock exchange was the beginning of an economic crisis affecting the economy of the monarchy throughout the first half of the 70th of the 19th century. Changing economic circumstances was reflected on the further construction of railways. During this period, the country was aware of the strategic importance of railway transportation for economy and policy. The state responded to the situation with a number of actions: stopped the construction of expensive railways and created legal conditions for the construction of local railways.
1918–1939 After the formation of
Czechoslovakia, the most important task was to maintain and run the rail network defined by the new boundaries. Two divisions, which were set up in the cities Košice and Bratislava, were responsible for the network managing.
Slovakia inherited rail network that was insufficient for the new state requirements. The only one efficient line was Košice-Bohumín. The state therefore decided to take over the operation of all private railways and extend the rail lines. The pressure of competition from the road freight transport stimulated further developments. The speed of freight trains was increased up to 70 km/h by applying continuous braking. Significant progress in passenger traffic was achieved by
motorization of local railways.
1939–1945 (Slovak Railways). On 3 March 1939 the
Slovak State was established. However, it was dependent on
Germany. The war caused high intensity of freight transport. The key role was played by export of raw materials, agricultural and food products. Passenger transport was characterized by extensive seasonal movements of agricultural and industrial workers from
Poland, Slovakia,
Ukraine and
Russia travelling to Germany.
1945–1992 After
World War II, with the reestablishment of Czechoslovakia, the main issue that needed to be resolved was the reconstruction of the rail network. After the 1948 regime change, a
communist government came to power. All private railways were nationalized. The insufficient capacity of the Čierna nad Tisou – Košice – Žilina – Bohumín line was the main factor that sped up the expansion of the rail network in southern Slovakia. At the same time, the
electrification of railways was carried out. The constitution of 1960 defined Czechoslovakia as a
socialist state. Rail transport was a major pillar of
Joseph Stalin's "iron and steel" doctrine. There was strong emphasis on the transport of raw materials, building materials, fuels and food.
Industrialization had a significant impact on the growth of passenger transport — people traveled to work and school over large distances. The growth in intensity caused imbalances between demand and technical capabilities. The situation stabilized during the 1970s due to the development of individual car transport and the intensity of rail transport started to decline.
After 1993 On January 1, 1993, the
Slovak Republic became an independent country. At the same time, the company
Železnice Slovenskej Republiky was established. The bad initial situation required steps to be taken to consolidate the operation of the railway network as quick as possible. The most important measure was to create conditions for the
privatization and optimization of rail activity to meet business requirements. The strategic objective was to provide access to the
European Union trade market and to capitalize on the geographic location of the territory of the Slovak Republic and its tourist potential. A line, Lanžhot (Czech Republic) to Kúty (Slovakia) will be completed in late 2023. Between 2021 and 2023 the line from
Košice to Moldava and Bodvou is undergoing electrification. Between 2023 and 2026 the line from Košice to
Bánovce nad Ondavou is undergoing electrification. Both with 3 kV DC, with provisions for future conversion to 25 kV 50 Hz. ==Intermodal Traffic from China==