Bohinj Railway

The Bohinj Railway is a 144-kilometre-long section of the total 717-kilometre railway from Prague to Jesenice and via Gorizia/Gorica to Trieste/Trst, which connected Central Europe with the Adriatic Sea in 1906. The Bohinj Railway is held to be one of the most beautiful mountain railways in the Alps and an outstanding technical monument. The construction of the Bohinj railway was extremely difficult due to tunnels and bridges. The Bohinj tunnel construction was one of the major building challenges. At the time of its completion, it was 6,339 metres long, while its present length was reached in 1945, when the retreating German soldiers blew up the mighty portal on the Bohinj side. During World War I, the railway was an important connection between the front and the hinterland. An enormous quantity of military supplies, weapons and equipment came to Bohinj. Soldiers, wounded and captives were arriving to the valley from all sides. Bohinj became an enormous logistics centre with warehouses, hospitals, barracks and cemeteries. Photos: (1, 2, 4) Simon Kovačič, Fundacija Poti miru; (3) Tanja Gorjan, Fundacija Poti miru