Railway Map of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1874

The Emperor Franz Joseph Railway (German: ''Kaiser-Franz-Josephs-Bahn'', KFJB) was an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n private

railway company A rail transport company is a company active within the rail industry. It can be: * a manufacturing company, * a rail transport operations, railway undertaking providing services through operating rolling stock, * a railway infrastructure manager ...

, named after Emperor

Franz Joseph I Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...

. It operated railway lines from the Austrian capital

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

and

Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights, Eger is best known for Castle of Eger, its ...

(Cheb) in

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

History

The stock company (''

Aktiengesellschaft (; abbreviated AG ) is a German language, German word for a corporation limited by Share (finance), share ownership (i.e., one which is owned by its shareholders) whose shares may be traded on a stock market. The term is used in Germany, Austria ...

'') was founded by the Bohemian noble Prince Johann Adolf II of Schwarzenberg (1799–1888), a brother of former State Chancellor Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg, who had a first long railway line built from Vienna to Eger, starting after the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War (German: ''Preußisch-Österreichischer Krieg''), also known by many other names,Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Second War of Unification, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), ''Deutsc ...

of 1866. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on November 18 near Schwarzenberg's Frauenberg Castle in Bohemia. The first section between Budweis (Budějovice) and the Pilsen (Plzeň) coal basin was inaugurated on 1 September 1868. It was extended to Eggenburg in

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

on 1 November 1869 and train service to Vienna began on 23 June 1870. The railway line from Vienna via Gmünd to Prague was completed by 14 December 1871. When the northwestern branch was extended from Pilsen to Eger on 28 January 1872, the KJFB network comprised . In 1872, Vienna Franz Josef Station was opened as the first terminal station inside the former '' Linienwall'' in the district of

Alsergrund Alsergrund (; ) is the ninth district of Vienna, Austria (). It is located just north of the first, central district, Innere Stadt. Alsergrund was incorporated in 1862, with seven suburbs. As a central district, the area is densely populated. Accor ...

, inside the Gürtel. It crossed the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

Tulln Tulln an der Donau () is a historic town in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, the administrative seat of Tulln District. Because of its abundance of parks and gardens, Tulln is often referred to as ''Blumenstadt'' ("City of Flowers"), and "The ...

and extended from there to Krems and to the border with Bohemia at Gmünd. In Bohemia, it continued through Budweis,

Tábor Tábor (; ) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants, making it the second most populated town in the region. The town was founded by the Hussites in 1420. The historic town centre is well pres ...

and

Benešov Benešov (; ) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 17,000 inhabitants. The town is known for the Konopiště Castle. Administrative division Benešov consists of 15 municipal parts (in brackets population ...

. Prague's present

main station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

originally belonged to the Franz Josef Railway company. Various district capitals are only connected to it by bylines. The KFJB was

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

by the

Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways The Imperial-Royal State Railways () abbr. ''kkStB'') or Imperial-Royal Austrian State Railways (''k.k. österreichische Staatsbahnen'',The name incorporating "Austrian" appears, for example, in the 1907 official state handbook (''Staatshandbuch'' ...

on 1 May 1884. After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, a new station at Gmünd had to be built in 1919, after part of the town had become part of

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

(''

České Velenice České Velenice (, , 1938–1945: ''Gmünd III'') is a town in Jindřichův Hradec District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,700 inhabitants. It lies on the border with Austria and is adjacent to the town of Gmü ...

''). After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the line lost a lot of importance because of the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were countries connected to the So ...

. However, trains to Prague and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

used it through the mid-90s. Today, the Franz Josef Railway is only used for regional trains, as trains to Prague run via and

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

, and along the first Czech railway corridor. However there is still a train going to the city of Budweis via Gmünd to this date.

Lines

Sections built by the Emperor Franz Joseph Railway company:Borders and Czech town names indicated as of today. *

České Budějovice České Budějovice (; ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 97,000 inhabitants. The city is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše. České Budějovice is the largest ...

Plzeň Plzeň (), also known in English and German as Pilsen (), is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about west of P ...

(1868) * Eggenburg - Gmünd -

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

border -

(1869) *

- Eggenburg (1870) *

Veselí nad Lužnicí Veselí nad Lužnicí (; ) is a town in Tábor District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,500 inhabitants. It lies at the confluence of the Lužnice and Nežárka rivers. Administrative division Veselí nad Luž ...

(1871) * Absdorf -

Krems an der Donau Krems an der Donau (, ) is a city in Lower Austria, Austria. With a population of 24,821, it is the 20th-largest city of Austria and fifth-largest of Lower Austria. It is approximately west of Vienna. Krems is a city with its own statute (or '' ...

(1872) *

Cheb Cheb (; ) is a town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 33,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Ohře River. Before the Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia, expulsion of Germans in 1945, the town was the centre of the G ...

(1872) * Prague Junction Line:

Praha Masarykovo nádraží Praha Masarykovo nádraží () is a terminal railway station near Republic Square (náměstí Republiky) in the New Town area of Prague, Czech Republic. It was the first railway station in the city to serve steam trains, and the second oldest ...

Praha hlavní nádraží Praha hlavní nádraží is the largest railway station in Prague, Czech Republic. It opened in 1871 as Franz Josef Station, after Franz Joseph I of Austria. During the First Republic and from 1945 to 1948 the station was called Wilson Stati ...

- Praha-Smíchov railway station (1872) *

(1874)

Notes

Sources

* * * Alfred Wolf: ''Die Franz-Josefs-Bahn und ihre Nebenlinien.'' Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2006, {{ISBN, 978-3-86680-041-0 Railway companies of the Czech Republic Railway lines in Austria Railway lines in the Czech Republic Defunct railway companies of Austria