Samoborček (ˈsɑːmoʊbɔərtʃɛk) is name of historic Croatian narrow gauge railway operating from 1901 until 1979, linking Zagreb

Zagreb

Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...

 and Samobor

Samobor

Samobor is a town in the Zagreb County, Croatia. It is part of the Zagreb metropolitan area.-Geography:Samobor is located west of Zagreb, between the eastern slopes of the Samoborsko gorje , in the Sava River valley.-Population:...

 with extension to Bregana

Bregana

Bregana is a settlement in the Town of Samobor, Zagreb County, Croatia. According to the 2001 census, the town has 2,518 residents living in an area of . Together with the nearby settlements of Podvrh and Klokočevec Samoborski, the town's micropolitan area has 3,450 inhabitants.Together with...

.

History

Initially, Samoborček was projected as cargo train, to connect Samobor companies with growing Zagreb industry and market because the only connection was horse omnibus.
Railway was public company until end of second war, when it was nationalized and became "Gradska željeznica Zagreb-Samobor" ("Zagreb-Samobor City Railway").
Eventually, the railway was neglected in favor of truck and bus traffic and interrupted operation in 1979. All infrastructure was abandoned and dismantled.

Rail track

Samoborček had single narrow-gauge track. Initial length was 19 km (11.8 mi), from Zagreb to Samobor via Podsused. In the 1950s the track was extended for extra miles to Bregana and military overhaul workshops in Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

.

Stations were:

• Zagreb S.K.
• Selska cesta
• Kustošija
• Vrapče
• Vrapče bolnica
• Stenjevec
• Stenjevec Gornji
• Goljak
• Susedgrad

• Bestovje
• Orešje
• Strmec
• Nedelja
• Domaslovec
• Samobor
• Samobor kupalište
• Lug
• Bregana stajalište
• Bregana tvornica

Rolling stock

Until the 1950s there were various steam engine driven compositions. Average speed was 15 to 20 km/h (10 - 12 mph). From the 1950s until end of operation DMU aluminum compositions, officially called DEV and nicknamed "Srebrna strijela" ("Silver arrow") took over, with max speed of 50 km/h (30 mph).

Remains

Although all tracks were removed, a large part of other railway infrastructure (embankments, bridges) survives today, usually without function.
Most of railway stations and embankments survived, mostly they were converted into shops, restaurants and warehouses.
One of steam driven compositions is at display at location in Samobor.

Future development

A new link has been announced and is due to be built in 2008-2012. This link will be standard gauge

Standard gauge

The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

and tie in with normal Croatian Railways operations, with max speed of 120 km/h (75 mph).