Bohinj railway runs between Jesenice – Nova Gorica – Trieste, in times of Austria-Hungary monarchy it was an important part of European railway Prague – Jesenice – Gorica – Trieste. It is 144 kilometers long, from 717 kilometers long railway. Bohinj railway includes 89 kilometers ob Bohinj (Jesenice – Gorica) and 55 kilometers of Karst railway (Gorica – Trieste). The railway was constructed between the years 1900 and 1906, it has brought great progress to the surrounding areas. Between the First and Second World War, it was badly damaged. After the Second World War, the railway Prague – Trieste partitioned among several countries, and because of that, the Bohinj railway dropped out of international transport. In the year 1973, steam locomotives are replaced by the motorized passenger train with a diesel locomotive. The museum train is still being used for tourist purposes on this route, which encourages efforts to enter the Bohinj railway to the UNESCO list of world heritage. The railway covers several tunnels (Bohinj tunnel is 6327 meters long), galleries and bridges, and this is what makes it one of the most attractive railways in Europe. At tunnel Bukovo is preserved Ventilation device from the year 1914, which in its intestines hides a huge ventilator, which blew air through the walled iron structure and was blowing huge amounts of smoke away.

Before the First World War, there were 70 trains running daily on the railway from Prague, München and Wiena, the part from Trieste to Jesenice train completed in four hours. In a time of Soča front and Italian army offensive in the year 1915, the railway changed its purpose. Because of the new situation in Austria-Hungary, the railway passes under the control of Supreme Military Command, civil transport completely dies off. During the fights, the railway was interrupted several times, bridges were demolished by cannon shells, also the Solkan bridge, its stone arch was blown up by the Austrian army upon their withdrawal. With that the transport on the Bohinj railway becomes disabled.

Bohinj Railway was later suppressed by new state borders, the southern part to the middle of Bohinj tunnel belonged to Italy, northern part towards Jesenice to Yugoslavia, from the middle of Karavanke railway tunnel to Austria. In the year 1927, the demolished parts of the railway were renovated, and the transport starts working again after the year 1930.

Even during the Second World War, the railway was constantly under the coup, at the end of the war it was severely demolished and damaged. Upon withdrawal, the Germans blasted the north portal of the Bohinj tunnel, and with that disabled the transport. After the peace contract with Italy, February 10th, 1947, which comes to effect on September 15th, 1947, the main part of the railway between Jesenice and Trieste belongs to Yugoslavia, the border was set at Rapentabor in Trieste.

After the year 1960, the railway is updated and qualified for 20-ton axle pressure, the entire upper structure of the railway is completely replaced (rails, sleepers, beams from a thug), they reinforce and restore many bridges and tunnels, upgrade telecommunications and signaling devices. The railway has not yet been electrified.

Bohinj railway and Logar bridge below Grahovo in Bača are shown in the first Slovenian film On our own land when the partisan mine it. It is the demonstration of the partisan mining action in the Second World War. Otherwise, they did not really mine this bridge, but the one few meters away along the railway.

Bohinj railway is an exceptionally technical, architectural and cultural-historical heritage of world importance. It enables the shortest and fastest connection between Upper Carniola and Littoral region, at the same time it is an excellent starting point to visit the Julian Alps, Bled, Bohinj, Upper-Savinja valley, Baška grapa, the valley of Soča and Gorica hills, Vipava valley, and Karst. Driving along the railway represents a special experience because of the unspoiled nature, the diversity of cultural landscape and technical-architectural pearls along the way.

THE NAME OF THE RAILWAY

• Slovenian name for the railway is Bohinj railway, which refers to the valley and city Bohinj
• German name Wocheiner Bahn, which is in German the name for Bohinj. The southern part of the railway, above Nova Gorica, was known as Karstbahn. The official name in time of the construction was Karawanken- und Wocheinerbahn, which means Karavanke railway and originates from Jesenice. Together with this railway and railway Tauern, they form the New Alpine railway project.
• Italian name for railway is Transalpina or railway pass Alps, the name for railway is still used today, for line between Gorica and Trieste

See other sights of special interest in Slovenia!

Baška grapa
Baška grapa is 30 kilometers long valley of river Bača, which is trapped between Lower Bohinj mountains (si. Spodnje Bohinjske gore) on the north and Porezen, Kojca and Šentvid mountain and Cerkno hills on the south. Ridges around Baška grapa do not exceed 2000 meters. [_Read more_]

Solkan stone bridge
Solkan stone bridge has the largest stone arch in the world, which represents the highlight of knowledge in bridge building and construction engineering from the beginning of 20th century. Solkan bridge was built as part of railway line between Trieste and Wien. [_Read more_]

Nova Gorica
City Nova Gorica, also the city of roses, is a young city and by the number of residents the tenth biggest city in Slovenia. The city is the center of city municipality Nova Gorica, it was constructed after the Second World War and already for some decades represents the heart of the sunny Goriška. [_Read more_]

Grahovo ob Bači
Grahovo ob Bači is a nucleated settlement on the south-western slope of Kotel above river Bača. Settlement covers hamlets Brdo, Ravnce, Na Koncu, Postaja, Spodnje Bukovo. The settlement has approximate 200 inhabitants. Grahovo was for the first time mentioned in the year 1377. [_Read more_]

Koritnica
Koritnica is a smaller settlement on the right bank of river Bača in municipality Tolmin and one of six settlements, which are located at the bottom of Baška grapa. The settlement was one of the locations of the shooting of movie On our own land. Koritnica is attested in written sources in 1377 as Coritinicha. [_Read more_]

Ribčev Laz
Ribčev Laz is a small settlement on the eastern part of Bohinj and it represents the center of happening and most known image of Bohinj. Inhabitants were originally engaged in agriculture, today mostly in tourism. Ribčev Laz, in the WWI, served as a transitional zone between the battlefield and the hinterland. [_Read more_]

Bohinj lake
Lake Bohinj, pearl under Triglav, is located in the Julian Alps on the southwest of the country and is the biggest natural permanent lake of Triglav National Park and at the same time in Slovenia. The lake is of tectonic origin, hollow in which it lies was shaped by Bohinj glacier. [_Read more_]

River Bača
River Bača is a small river in the Southern part of the Littoral region, which springs in the vicinity of settlement Bača pri Podbrdo. It is 22 kilometers long and it shapes 30 kilometers long valley, named Baška grapa. The river flows into river Idrijca near the village Bača pri Modreju. [_Read more_]

Rudi Bašelj
Rudi Bašelj was a Slovenian NLS fighter, combat engineer and saboteur, who was born on April 18th, 1918 in Pušnik – Bukovski vrh, he died on December 6th, 1979 in Koritnica. In November 1943 he joins partisans, when he returned from the Italian army after the their capitulation. [_Read more_]

France Štiglič
France Štiglič is Slovenian movie director and screenwriter, who was born on November 12th, 1919 in Kranj, he died on May 4th, 1993 in Ljubljana. He was also NLS partisan and journalist, in Ljubljana, he studied law. After the war, he was among the leading organizers of the movie industry in Slovenia. [_Read more_]

On our own land
The movie On our own land is the first Slovenian sound full-length feature film, which was for the first time played on November 21st 1948 in Ljubljana. It is a war movie, filmed in year 1947 and 1948 in black-white technique. The story talks about a struggle of Partisans and civil residents on Primorska. [_Read more_]