Sucha Beskidzka. 2022-10-17
Sucha Beskidzka railway station.
Współrzędne geograficzne: 49.740N 19.581E.
The town of Sucha Beskidzka.
Sucha Beskidzka is a city in Poland, located in the south in Beskid Makowski. Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Suski County and is the seat of the starosty. The settlement developed on the Stryszawka River, which here flows into the Skawa River. The settlement was founded in 1405, and received city rights in 1896, i.e. after the railway had already been built here. The city is 350 meters above sea level. Until November 27, 1965, the city was called Sucha. In 2019, the city of Sucha Beskidzka had an area of 27.65 km2 and was inhabited by 9,088 inhabitants.
History of Sucha Beskidzka.
The settlement was established in the Duchy of Oświęcim and was related to the action of settling these areas. The family of Strzałów received the right to settle. In 1564, the Duchy of Oświęcim was incorporated into the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. In 1772, as a result of the partitions of Poland, Beskid Makowski was incorporated into Austria-Hungary. In the period 1556-1939, Sucha was part of the so-called Suski state and was privately owned. That is why there is a prince's castle in Sucha Beskidzka, the main body of which is modeled on Wawel. For many centuries it was a magnificent magnate residence. The residence had one of the largest library collections in Europe, which, however, was plundered during the Second World War. The castle is worth visiting. In Sucha, there were: a glassworks, a water mill, a brewery, a hop drying room, a distillery, an iron and copper forge, sawmills and other workshops. As a market settlement, Sucha had the privileges of organizing fairs. Sucha was not spared by fires, epidemics and famines.
Road transport.
Due to the mountainous location of Sucha Beskidzka, few roads run through the town. The most important is the National Road No. 28 Zator - Medyka. The Provincial Road No. 946 Sucha Beskidzka - Żywiec begins in Sucha Beskidzka.
Air Transport.
The airports closest to Sucha Beskidzka are in Bielsko Biała (Aleksandrowice) (55 km) and Nowy Targ (57 km). The nearest port is Kraków Balice (58 km away). On October 4, 2012, a heliport was opened at Szpitalna Street in Sucha Beskidzka.
PKP Sucha Beskidzka.
The railway station in Sucha Beskidzka was launched on December 16, 1884 as part of the Transversal Railway, when the southern part of Poland was under the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
A locomotive depot, a water tower and a coal fill were built in Sucha. The first locomotive (1886) was fan-shaped, with two stands, with the prospect of adding more stands. In 1888, another 2 stands of the fan hall were added. Another locomotive was built on a rectangular plan. In the 1920s, the station received a railway traffic control system in the form of shaped semaphores.
From September 1939 to January 1945, the Sucha station was a border station between Germany and the General Government. The border ran on the bridge over the Skawa River on the Sucha Beskidzka - Maków Podhalański route. In 1942, the Germans built a large rectangular pass-through hall.
After the Second World War, Sucha was mainly stationed with tendrzak steam locomotives, such as OKz32 or TKt48. After the route to Zakopane was electrified in 1975, EN58 and EN71 electric multiple units were stationed in the depot. The latter were built specifically for mountain trails. Modified versions of these EMUs are in operation to the present years.
The shaped semaphores at the station in Sucha Beskidzka were replaced with light ones in 1969. Siding tracks led from the station to a sawmill and other plants in the city.
There are two platforms at the Sucha Beskidzka station. Platform 1 is located next to the station building. At the very building, Platform 1 has only one edge. The second track of Platform 1 is blind and serves trains only towards Żywiec. Platform 2 is an island, two-edge platform. In 2018, Platform 2 was renovated. Platform 2 was raised, equipped with information for passengers, bus shelters with benches and rests, and small architecture was installed.
Access to Platform 2 is provided by a footbridge over the tracks, opened in 1975. The footbridge also connects Kolejowa Street (north) with Adama Mickiewicza Street (south).
The present Sucha Beskidzka junction is the seat of Przewozy Regionalne, PKP Cargo, PKP Energetyka, PKP PLK and the Railroad Security Guard. Railway traffic is controlled from two control rooms: "Su" and "Su1", which have centralized mechanical devices. As part of the modernization, a new local railway traffic control center will be built.
Sucha Beskidzka Railway Station.
The train station in Sucha Beskidzka is a typical railway station building from the end of the 19th century. The building was built as a single-story building. After the Second World War, the building received the second floor. The central hall has a mezzanine located at the height of the second floor. The building is covered with a gable roof. On the side of the platforms, along the building, there is a shelter for travelers. For many years there was a famous restaurant "Wilderów" in the building of the station. In addition, the station housed a MO (civil militia) post, then a police station, and a station bar. Currently (2022), the building has a waiting room, a ticket office and the Railroad Security Guard. Toilets are located outside the station building.
Railway lines:
The railway line No. 97 Skawina - Sucha - Żywiec is a single-track, electrified line, 82,708 km long. In the Network Timetable of Trains, the line is No. 137. The line was launched in 1884 as part of the Galician Transversal Railway. Electrification took place in 1974, on the Skawina - Sucha Beskidzka section and in 1989, on the Sucha Beskidzka - Żywiec section. In the period 2010 - 2014, passenger trains were stopped on the section Sucha Beskidzka - Żywiec. The reason was the bad technical condition of the route, where the train speed was limited to 20-30 km / h. In January 2015, seasonal connections were restored. Since 2015, renovations have been carried out to improve the condition of the trail. In the section Skawina - Sucha Beskidzka, in the period 2012 - 2014, the track system was rebuilt due to the construction of the Świnna Poręba dam (Muchowskie Lake on the Skawa River). The reconstruction included the Zembrzyce - Dąbrówka section. New bridges were built.
The railway line No. 98 Sucha (Sucha Beskidzka) - Chabówka is a single-track, electrified line, 35.817 km long. In the Network Timetable of Trains, the line is called No. 135. The line was opened for use on December 16, 1884. Electrification took place on September 12, 1975. The first major overhaul of the line took place in the 1950s, after the destruction by the Germans during the Second World War. In May 2018, the renovation of the 31 km railway line began. The renovation included the complete replacement of the track, subgrade, electric traction, and the traffic control system. As part of the renovation, 90 culverts, 23 bridges, 3 viaducts, 46 rail-road crossings were made, of which 26 crossings received automatic crossing signaling. The SHP system was installed. As part of the renovation, 7 stations and railway stops were rebuilt: Sucha Beskidzka, Osielec, Bystra Podhalańska, Jordanów, Skawa, Skawa Środkowa, and Chabówka. The renovation was carried out in stages, so that during the holiday season, trains could reach Zakopane. During the closure of the track, there was a substitute transport by PKP buses. The renovation was part of the project "Works on the lines to Zakopane No. 97, 98, 99. The cost of the works was estimated at PLN 980 million.
Railway line No. 138 (in 1948 No. 133) Skawce - Wadowice. The line started in Skawka, not in Sucha. However, this line made Sucha a four-way station. However, due to the construction of the Świnna Poręba water reservoir (1986 - 2014), the line was closed and dismantled.
Connection road No. 625 Sucha Beskidzka North - Sucha Beskidzka South. The link was built between the lines No. 97 - 98. At the same time, the Sucha Beskidzka Zamek passenger stop was built. This switchboard made it possible to eliminate the detour of the passenger train by an electric locomotive in order to change the direction of travel at the Sucha station (Sucha Beskidzka), on the Kraków - Zakopane route. The contract was concluded in December 2014. The construction of the link was started in 2015. The launch took place on June 11, 2017. Incidentally, we can mention that on March 19, 2018, PKP PLK signed a contract with ZUE for the construction of a link between lines No. 98 and 99, which will allow it to bypass the Chabówka station.
All lines from Sucha Beskidzka are of the mountain type. The dips and rises of the tracks reach 15 per mille, and sometimes even 17.2 per mille. It is worth knowing that main and first-class railway lines have a slope of up to 6 per mille, and sidings can have up to 20 per mille.
Rail connections (2022):
Kraków Główny 7 pairs of trains, carrier PolRegio. Zakopane 4 pairs of trains operated by PolRegio. During the holiday season, there are several long-distance trains from / to Zakopane from Warsaw, Wrocław and Poznań. Currently (2022) there are few trains, because the railway lines Sucha Beskidzka - Chabówka and Sucha Beskidzka - Żywiec are being renovated.
The Sucha Beskidzka station recorded the highest passenger traffic in the 70s / 80s of the 20th century. At that time, up to 1,500 passengers were checked in a day. In the holiday season of 2020, the station served up to 300 passengers per day.
Written by Karol Placha Hetman