A remarkable set of railway viaducts and tunnels
Telgárt is a village in Slovakia, in the district of Brezno. During the Slovak National Uprising, there were heavy fighting for this area, during which the whole village was burned down by German troops. In the years 1948 to 1990, the village was called Švermovo. During the construction of the railway in 1931, the village decided in an original way how to overcome the considerable elevation. The solution is a technically remarkable set of buildings – a spiral loop about 2.3 km long, which overcomes the height difference of 31 m and includes two viaducts and a long tunnel to the arch.
Telgárt tunnel
On the edge of the village there is the longest tunnel of this line – the Kornel Stodol tunnel (Telgárt tunnel) 1239 m long, located partly in an arc with a radius of 400 m and a rise of 12.5 ‰.
Telgárt Viaduct
Just behind the Telgárt Tunnel, the track crosses the valley with the Telgárt Viaduct, which is 22 m high and 86 m long with a slope of 17 ‰. Its outer parts always form two massive stone arches on both sides, while the middle part is bridged by one elegant reinforced concrete arch. This viaduct was the first articulated arch bridge structure on Czechoslovak lines.
Chmaroš viaduct
This viaduct is one of the most remarkable railway constructions in Slovakia. The arched bridge with 9 arches has a radius of 300 meters and is 114 meters long and up to 18 meters high. The route continues through the 250-meter-long Hron Tunnel and then another 848-meter-long Besní Tunnel. It is located at the highest point of this line at an altitude of 957 meters above sea level. This is the highest point of railway lines with a normal gauge in Slovakia.