Summary
Siniša Lajnert
Zoran Bundalo
The Role of the Ruma-Vrdnik Local Railway Stock Company in the Construction and Exploitation of the Ruma-Vrdnik Railroad and the Mine in Vrdnik
Abstract: In this paper the authors outline the role of the Ruma-Vrdnik Local Railway Stock Company in the construction and exploitation of the Ruma-Vrdnik railway line and the mine in Vrdnik. The stock company was founded in 1889 in Zagreb. The Ruma-Vrdnik railway line was open for traffic on 4 July 1889. It was built for the purpose of exploiting the mine in Vrdnik. Both the mine and the railway line were owned by the Pongratz family. In 1907, after they were sold to the state, the reason for the existence of the railway stock company ceased to exist and it entered a liquidation process. After the brown coal mine terminated its production, the entire traffic on the Ruma-Vrdnik railway line was discontinued in the 1970s.
Key words: Ruma-Vrdnik Local Railway Stock Company in Zagreb, Vicinal/Local Railways, Mine in Vrdnik, Pongratz Family
The expansion of the railway network on the territory of the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia began on 13 June 1880 by passing of the Act on Railways of Local Interest, which enabled private capital to build and exploit the railway network. Before the passing of this act the railway network in the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia was quite poor, hence it can be concluded that its implementation had a crucial role in the development of the railway network. The cause of this success was in various relaxations and benefits given by this act to private persons who built and exploited the vicinal railways. The Ruma-Vrdnik railway line was built in 1889 by the Pongratz family for the purpose of exploiting their mine in Vrdnik. To that end the Ruma-Vrdnik Local Railway Stock Company was founded. For the entire time of its existence the company did business with financial gain. When Guido Pongratz, a landowner from Zagreb, sold the railway line and the mine to the state, the reason for the existence of the stock company ceased to exist. In late 1907 the company entered the liquidation process, which ended on 11 July 1908. It can be concluded that the biggest development of the railway network in the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia was reached when the state decided to relinquish its construction and exploitation to private capital i.e. economic interest (profit). The Ruma-Vrdnik vicinal railway was also built upon the economic interests i.e. economical-traffic needs of the area through which it passed.
Translated by Marijan Bosnar