Bieszczady Forest Railway

In 1994 this little railway hauled its last load of timber, and it looked destined for the scrapyard. Today it carries more than 160,000 passengers a year and ranks among the most popular narrow-gauge lines in Poland. The Bieszczady Forest Railway runs on 750 mm track, the highest narrow-gauge line in the country, through forests where the rails are often the only sign of civilisation.

History: from timber to tourists

Construction of the line from Nowy Łupków to Cisna began in 1890, when this corner of Poland (Galicia) belonged to Austria-Hungary. It was backed by timber merchants from Vienna and Budapest and designed by the Polish engineer Albin Zazula. Around 300 labourers built it almost entirely by hand, while Italian stonemasons from Trento were brought in for the stone bridges and retaining walls. The first 25 km section opened on 21 January 1898, with a station and engine shed at Majdan near Cisna. After the wars the State Forests took over and by the 1960s had expanded the network to 73 km. From 1963 it also carried passengers, and at the time it was the only public railway in Poland outside the national rail operator PKP.

Decline and revival

Road haulage and the economic upheaval of the early 1990s finished it off: on 1 December 1994 the line closed and part of the rolling stock was scrapped. What saved it was its listing as a historic monument in 1992. In 1996 a foundation was set up to run it, and on 4 July 1997 trains left Majdan again, this time with tourists. Since 2012 the railway has also run on selected days during the winter school holidays, which means clearing snow from the track. The record year was 2021, with 168,000 passengers.

Routes and rolling stock

The base is Majdan station, with its historic wooden building and engine shed. Current services run west:

• Majdan – Balnica (9 km) – the return trip takes about 2 hours, including a stop of around 30 minutes in Balnica,
• Majdan – Przysłup (11 km) – currently closed; after a landslip in 2020, services beyond Dołżyca were suspended.

Trains are hauled by Romanian-built Lyd2 diesels, and steam locomotives such as Kp4-3772 from 1957 work selected services. In summer the trains include open-sided carriages converted from old goods wagons. Because of the mountain gradients, every train carries several brakemen.

Did you know?

• A stretch of almost 2 km between Balnica and Solinka lay on the Slovak side of the border until 1938, and trains crossed it in transit under Polish Border Guard escort.
• The track was originally 760 mm gauge; the Germans regauged it to 750 mm during World War II.
• In 1982 the railway featured in an episode of the BBC series Great Little Railways.

Tripto tip

Online tickets can be bought until midnight the day before travel and do not need printing, as the conductor checks your surname. The online allocation does not cover all seats: the rest are sold at the Majdan ticket office on the day, from 08:30 in summer. Reduced fares apply only to children and teenagers up to 15. A dog (kept under control) and a pushchair cost PLN 10 each, paid on the spot before departure. In July and August arrive early, and allow 2.5–3 hours for the whole visit including a look round the station. The timetable varies by month, and Mondays are usually a maintenance day with no trains.