Lviv Railways - History

History

The first railway line built in the current territory of Ukraine was the Przemyśl - Lviv line, which was part of the connection from Kraków. The line was constructed by k.k. priv. Galizische Carl Ludwig-Bahn which later became nationalised by the Imperial Austrian State Railways. It was built in 1861 under the initiative of Leon Sapieha, and was 98 kilometres long. The first steam locomotive which departed from Przemyśl to Lwow on November 4, 1861 at 10.00 in the morning was called "Jaroslaw". In 1866 another railway was built connecting Czernowitz with Lwow (by Lemberg-Czernowitz-Jassy Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft). At that time the Kovel railway station belonged to Vistula River Railroad. In 1869 Carl Ludwig Railways built a railroad from Lviv to Brody that was opened on July 12. In 1870 another branch reached Tarnopil. On November 4, 1871 the railroad network was connected with railroads of Russian Empire near Volochysk over the Zbruch river, ultimately connecting Odessa with Hamburg. In 1884 was created the General Directory which included six state railways. Those railways later formed the local directory of state railway transport which effectively competed with the Carl Ludwig Railways. On January 1, 1892 the government of Austria-Hungary adopted a law nationalising all railways from private companies. In the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria three railway directories were formed: Kraków, Lwow, and Stanislawow.

Before World War I the total length of railways in the region was 2676 kilometres.