For all railroad lovers, the enthusiasts from the Silesian Railway Association have prepared a second, special journey by train along the sidings of the Ostrava-Karviná coalfield for the weekend of 22 and 23 April 2017. The partner of this action is the international transport company, AWT, a member of the PKP CARGO group, which operates the railway sidings in this region.
The Silesian Railway Association is dispatching four special trains to take railroad lovers and the general public through the Ostrava-Karviná coalfield on the weekend of 22 and 23 April 2017. The trains will depart at 10:00 and 14:00 from the Ostrava-Střed railway station, where the Moravian-Silesian Railroad Museum is located, and make their way through the most interesting circuit of the Ostrava-Karviná sidings before returning to the Ostrava-Střed railway station.
“Public interest from the last ride, which took place in February, really surprised us and exceeded our originally planned capacity. We therefore decided to repeat this action,” says Hana Antalecová, a member of the association, who added, “we really appreciate the cooperation of AWT, which allowed us to organize this action on their sidings. Due to the public interest in the ride in February, this time we are not sending two trains, but four.” Each car will have a guide to inform passengers about the history of coal mining and the railway sidings of the mines.
The sidings in the Ostrava-Karviná coalfield are operated by AWT, a member of the PKP CARGO group, which is also a partner of the action. “We are very pleased by the public interest in sightseeing along our sidings, and like the members of the association we are also surprised by the huge response to this action. Passengers have the chance to see places they normally never get to, and often this gives them a completely different perspective of this region than the one they are used to from their car,” says Bohumil Bonczek, Vice Chairman of the Board and Technical Director of AWT.
The sites along the circuit that both trains will visit include Zárubek, Josefova Pit, Orlová-Poruba, Karviná, ČSA, Doubrava and Heřmanice mines. There will also be brief stops with presentations at the Michal Mine and Žofie Pit. “The trains for this extraordinary public journey along our sidings will have priority before AWT freight trains, and so the trip will run smoothly without any delays and according to the fixed schedule,” says Ludvík Kobza, AWT Train Operations Manager.
“The area around the tracks will look quite differently in April than it did in February. That’s why we believe that it won’t be just new enthusiasts who will be making the trip, but we will also see many of those who have already journeyed with us before, both adults and children,” says a convinced Hana Antalecová.
