Interesting facts

On 10 August 1848, the first steam train guided by the locomotive ‘Bihár’ rolled into Bratislava, having departed earlier from Vienna. From that time on, the railway network was built and expanded throughout present-day Slovakia. Construction of the railway bridge at Devínská Nová Ves began in 1846. The bridge, 474 metres in length, had masonry side sections and a wooden middle section, and was successfully completed in seven months in 1847 in spite of the extreme winter and an outbreak of a typhus epidemic. In 1866 the bridge was struck by bad fortune – one could almost say friendly fire. After losing a battle in far-away Königgrätz, the Habsburg troops blew up their own bridge in order to cut off the advance of the Prussian army on their way to Vienna. However, fears of their advance turned out to be unfounded. After the bridge was repaired,peaceful times returned. Later the legendary Orient Express crossed the Morava bridge on its way from Paris to Constantinople. During World War I, another use came to the fore. The train bridge was fortified in order to facilitate the transport of troops and weapons to the Eastern Front. The Habsburg army sustained considerable losses there in 1916. The rail tracks in the eastern part of the empire were worn out, causing wear and tear to the rolling stock. In 2020 the connection from Vienna to Bratislava over the Morava bridge was expanded to double tracks as part of the trans-European network.