Railways in

Slovakia

A freight train of ŽSSK Cargo, hauled by a Siemens Vectron electric locomotive

The first railway in Slovakia opened in 1840 between Bratislava and Trnava, a distance of about 50km. Trains were originally drawn by horses, locomotive traction followed later.

The majority of main line railways in Slovakia were built to standard (1435mm) gauge. There were many narrow gauge minor railways, especially in the mountainous areas, several of which are still in operation as tourist railways. There is also a Russian gauge (1520mm) line connecting Košice and its nearby steelworks to the Ukrainian border, providing direct access to the railways of the former Soviet Union. A long term proposal exists to extend this line westwards to a major freight exchange in Wien (Vienna), Austria.

• ŽSS national passenger operator
• Arriva Vlaky passenger operator of a weekly service between Trenčín and Prague, Czech Republic (Site in Czech, when last checked contained no specific details of services)
• Polregio passenger operator between Medzilaborce and destinations in Poland
• Regiojet Czech passenger and freight operator with international services (Website primarily devoted to bus services, information about passenger rail services difficult to find, no information about freight services)
• ŽSSK Cargo national freight operator
• Budamar Logistics independent freight operator
• ČD Cargo independent freight operator
• Express Group independent freight operator (Site in Slovak)
• IG Rail independent freight operator
• Loko Trans Slovakia independent freight operator
• LTE independent freight operator
• Metrans independent freight operator
• Rail Cargo Carrier independent freight operator
• Retrack independent freight operator
• ŽSR track and timetabling authority
• Breitspur Planungsgesellschaft proposed 1520mm gauge line between Košice and Wien (Vienna), Austria.
• The High Tatras website has background information on the electric railway, rack railway and funiculars
• ČHŽ 760mm gauge forest railway based in Čierny Balog. Trains operate to Vydrovo Konečná (4km), Dobroč (4km) or Šánske (5km). A further 7km between Šánske and Podbrezová-Chvatimech is not currently in use. Steam hauled or diesel railcars. Operates during the summer months and by private charter at other times. Electrification of all or part of the system, reinstatement of the route to Podbrezová, and introduction of a year round service are proposed, as is a possible extension to ski resorts in the foothills of the Chopok mountains. Tourist steam trains would continue to operate.
• HLÚŽ 760mm gauge forest railway from the Kysucke Open Air Museum near Čadca to Orava, a distance of 8km including steeply graded lines with switchbacks. Steam or diesel hauled (Site in Slovak)
• Košice Children’s Railway metre gauge railway about 4km in length, operated by young people. Operates weekends during the summer months and on holidays throughout the year. Steam or diesel hauled (Site in Slovak)
• Nitra Field Railway 760mm gauge railway at the Slovak Museum of Agriculture, Nitra. About 1.6km of line within the museum grounds with a 1km extension linking with the Agrocomplex exhibition ground. Steam or diesel hauled (Site mainly in Slovak with some information in English)
• TREŽ 5.9km, 760mm gauge electric tramway linking the ŽSR station at Trenčianska Teplá with the spa town of Trenčianske Teplice (Site in Slovak)
• Bratislava trams
• Košice trams (Site in Slovak)