THE ROBERT Fico cabinet would like to see the tramcar connecting Trenčianska Teplá and Trenčianske Teplice back in operation, a wish echoed by ministers in a special cabinet session in nearby Handlová earlier in October.
The passenger railway company Železničná Spoločnosť Slovensko cancelled this route in late 2011 due to ineffectiveness. The 5.43-km long, narrow-gauge railway connects the spa town of Trenčianske Teplice with the express train station in Trenčianska Teplá. Its operation started in 1909, and it is the oldest electric tram route in Slovakia.
“Our goal is not to close railways but enable operation of them everywhere where this has potential,” Transport Ministry spokesperson Martin Kóňa said, as cited by the Pravda daily, pointing to this route’s potential as a tourist attraction.
The cabinet would like for scheduled traffic on the route to be co-financed by the regional government as well as the municipal offices of Trenčianska Teplá and Trenčianske Teplice. Local municipalities would like to have the tram in operation again, though they lack the money to operate it.
Since the beginning of 2012, the non-profit organisation Trenčianska Elektrická Železnica has been organising unscheduled traffic on the route as a touristic attraction, at most once per month.
