The operation of one of the most sought-after tourist attractions in the historic Horehronie region, central Slovakia, is at risk. (source: ČHZ)
The operation of one of the most sought-after tourist attractions in the historic Horehronie region, central Slovakia, is at risk. The operator of the Čiernohronská Železnica (ČHZ) railway lacks money to buy coal, wood and diesel.
It also claims that without a financial reserve, it will not be able to carry out the necessary repairs to the tracks, bridges, locomotives or buildings this winter, nor cover basic energy and operation expenses.
"If we do not receive support, there is a risk that in 2025 the railway will remain silent and another part of Slovak history will be irretrievably lost, falling victim to short-sighted business plans without added value," the non-profit organisation ČHZ stated, adding that benefactors can also help save the unique railway.
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At the end of last year, a call was launched on the website donio.sk.
ČHZ calculated that it needs €85,000 to survive this winter and start summer operations. The aforementioned call is currently aimed at covering the costs of operating the railway for three months, with more than €30,000 of the needed €36,000 towards that end collected so far.
Expensive lawsuit
The national cultural monument is experiencing a turbulent period, marked by lawsuits with a landowner that have cost the operator tens of thousands of euros.
One of the ČHZ tracks leads through a land owned by someone else, who fenced off their plot and blocked the track with concrete blocks. Therefore, ČHZ is now running on two routes instead of three.
Wood on the track
At the end of last year, there was another unpleasant surprise. Damaged logs appeared on the track in front of one station, also blocking a nearby cycling path and putting popular cycling trolleys out of service.
Massive logging is underway in the region, forcing ČHZ to stop operation as it was not informed of the situation and was unable to prepare in advance. They lost revenue and probably sponsors.
(source: ČHZ)
Saved by volunteers once already
The railway has been operating for over 40 years thanks to volunteers who came to the Vydrovská Dolina valley in the summer of 1983 and began saving the last and largest forest railway in Slovakia.
At that time, however, it was not at all certain that they would succeed, because the former regime was not interested in old locomotives and carriages, which mostly ended up in scrapyards.
"A trump card against the bureaucrats of the time was the free voluntary work of young people. It also applied to communist officials at that time," says ČHZ director Aleš Bílek.
Volunteers still maintain 20 kilometres of preserved tracks, 6 steam and 12 diesel locomotives, track machines and trolleybuses with dozens of historic carriages.
In the past, this technical gem was up to 132 kilometres long.
(source: ČHZ)
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