Parenzana - History

History

When laws of Austria-Hungary allowed constructing local narrow gauge railways, the first economical analyses of a west Istrian railway were prepared around 1880. In 1888 a Berlin based company Sanderop & comp, led by Peter Walderstein started to prepare project plan of the route. A Trieste based company of Luigi Buzzi did the same independently of Sanderop & comp. In 1898 a construction permit was obtained and in 1900 the TPC company was founded in Vienna, its chief was Ludovico Rizzi, then a governor of Austrian Littoral. The construction started the same year. Several contractors were assigned the construction works. The section between Trieste and Portorož was constructed by Butoraz and Zifer, both from Trieste, the section between Portorož and Buje was built by Filip Zupančič's company from Ljubljana, the section between Buje and Vižinada was assigned to Brunetti, List and Radl, all from Graz, and the section between Vižinada and Poreč was constructed by Pellegrini and Strohmeier, both from Vienna as well. On April 1, 1902 the first section between Trieste and Buje was opened. The other section between Buje and Poreč was opened on December 15, 1902. Initial plans included an extension to Kanfanar, then a rail junction of standard gauge rail lines from Divača, Pula and Rovinj (the section between Kanfanar and Rovinj is now defunct) but it was never built due to lack of funds and later due to upcoming World War I.

The railroad brought an economic progress to towns along its route. It was mainly used to transport agricultural products (with fish and salt) to the Trieste market. Products of Piran's chemical industry and dimension stones from quarries in Grožnjan, Momjan, Kanegra, etc. were transported as well. During the World War I the railway was used to transport military and food supply for the local population.

After the war and the independence of most parts of Austria-Hungary, the whole of Istria became part of the Kingdom of Italy. The railway was taken over by Italians, its headquarters were moved from Vienna to Pula, locomotives and personnel were brought from other parts of Italy. For about a decade the railway was still profitable, then the Great Depression arose and the railway could no longer compete with developing maritime, bus and automobile transport. The fascist regime found an excellent opportunity to further persecution of Slovene and Croatian population, forming majority of Istrian hinterland population. From Rome the order to abandon the railroad arrived and the last train was operated on August 31, 1935. This deteriorated the economic situation and forced many people to emigrate. The rolling stock was sold to other Italian railways, mainly to Sicily, and a legend tells that tracks were dismounted to be transported to Abyssinia, then an Italian colony, but never reached Africa as the ship sunk somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea.

During the operation of railway several minor accidents occurred. Some were a consequence of a human factor while others resulted from a fact that planners from interior of the Austria-Hungary did not know the local microclimate well. Especially around Muggia gusts of bora caused several derailments. The most tragic occurred on March 31, 1910 when three people were killed and many wounded. Another derailment near Muggia happened in 1916, but no victims are reported. In 1917 Russian prisoners of war deliberately caused a derailment. An engineer and a fireman were killed.

The most tragic event in the railway's history occurred on March 19, 1921 at 18:20. A group of fascists was travelling to Trieste. During the stop in Strunjan they shot from the train at a group of children playing near the track. 2 children were killed, 2 maimed and 3 wounded. In memory of this event Božidar Tvrdy later composed a poem Za Šentjanom je utonilo sonce (the Sun drowned at Šentjan, full text in Slovenian).

After the World War II several ideas arose to reconstruct the railroad at least partially for the purpose of tourism, however this never happened. The last such initiative came from the Croatian association for reconstruction of the railway Parenzana in 2003. However, at the moment this does not seem likely to happen. During preparation of railway's centennial celebration, the Italian and most of Slovenian sections were, with the financial help of the European Union, converted into a recreation Trail of Health and Friendship (Pot zdravja in prijateljstva in Slovenian, Percorso salute dell'amicizia in Italian) for pedestrians and cyclists and similar works started at the Croatian side as well. On the Croatian side, viaducts have had new safety rails installed and some tunnels are now illuminated. The section between Vizinada and Motovun has been popular with walkers for some years. The section between Livade and Grosnjan is also accessible. In 2008, the section between Markovac and Visnjan was cleared. In 2010 it was apparent that efforts were being made to clear other sections of bushes and self seeded trees that were blocking them. Clearing has been going on near Salvore/Savudrija. The section from Vizinada to the Ypsilon (the fast road from Pula to the Slovenian border)is currently being cleared (Jan 2011). In two places near Ohnici and Baldasi, vineyards appear to have been grown right across the trackbed, which is no longer visible at these points. When the Ypsilon was constructed, it caused the only major cut in the trackbed and it is unfortunate that an accommodation arch was not incorporated when it was planned. Beyond the Ypsilon,the trackbed has been cleared through to Markovac and the section from there to Visnjan was previously cleared. There is some sign of clearing starting between Visnjan and Nova Vas.