Carl Ritter von Ghega
Born in Venice on 10 January 1802, the son of a civil servant
in the Austrian navy
1819: Doctor in mathematics
31 January 1844: Completion of plans for the Semmering Railway
1848-1854: Supervision of the construction of the Semmering Railway
1851: Promotion to the nobility
14 March 1860: Death (consumption) in Vienna
On 5 May 1842 the railway line from Vienna to Gloggnitz was opened. As early as 3 August 1842 an "Imperial Edict" decreed that the railway be extended over the Semmering. On 31 January 1844 planning work was completed and Ghega submitted the "General Building Project" to the director general of State Railways, FRANCESCONI. On 21 October 1844 the section of track between Graz and Mürzzuschlag was opened. Due to political circumstances and doubts as to the feasibility of the project (for the construction of the 1,430-metre main tunnel, for instance, there were no precedents or experiences whatever available) the plans were shelved for four years, and it was only the revolution in Vienna in 1848 that brought about the beginning of construction work.
27 July 1848: Start of construction
27 October 1850: Worst accident (14 killed by falling rocks)
1850-1852: More than 750 deaths due to cholera and typhoid
20 August till 16 September 1851: Semmering Competition with four
steam engines (Wiener Neustadt, Vindobona, Seraing, Bavaria).
Each engine met the requirement "to pull 140 tons at 11.38
km/h on the steepest gradient."
23 and 24 October 1853: first trials over the entire route
17 July 1854: first scheduled passenger train over the Semmering
Length: 41,825 m
Difference in elevation: 457 m between Gloggnitz and the Semmering;
216 m between the Semmering and Mürzzuschlag
Highest point: 898 m in the middle of the main tunnel
Viaducts: 16 with a total length of 1,502 m
Tunnels: 15 with a total length of 5,420 m
Ghega rejected the use of iron and steel as a matter of principle,
which explains the "bricked railway" consisting of 65
million bricks and 80,000 flagstones. At the beginning of construction
work about 5,000 workmen a day were transported from Vienna to
the building sites and back. About 20,000 people were employed
at the peak of construction. In the years following the opening
of the railway "sightseeing trips" were highly fashionable.
At Whitsun 1857, for instance, 55,000 people were transported
from Vienna to Mürzzuschlag and back over two days.
On 29 September 1956 electric operations started on the line between Vienna and Gloggnitz, and immediately afterwards work commenced on electrifying the section over the Semmering. A four-year programme was drawn up. In the course of this not only the tunnel revetments, but also all the other artificial structures were thoroughly refurbished. 1,500 pylons were put up. The surface of the 42-kilometre Semmering section was renewed. over 60 km on both tracks. Maximum speeds were set down of 60 km/h on the North ramp and 70 km/h on the South one. The track systems were lengthened in five stations.
At the time the costs of electrifying and modernizing the route
amounted to about ATS 125 million.
On 29 May 1959 the first train travelled over the Semmering, ending
almost 105 years of steam operations on the Semmering.
The Semmering Railway was designed for an axle load of 6 tons, but today it amounts to 22.5 tons. Speed then was 6 km/h, today it is 60 km/h. The Bavaria, the most powerful engine in the competition of 1851, pulled 132 tons, the most powerful steam engine (BR 659 or Württembergische K) pulled 500 tons, today's electric locomotives 1042 and 1044 transport 500/600 tons (yet at a much higher speed), and the most powerful diesel locomotive in the world at the time (Krauss-Maffei M 4000) alone pulled 972 tons over the mountain during a trial in 1961.
To begin with, a train could have a maximum weight of only 140 tons, and 26 "mountain locomotives" were available. Today almost all goods trains have 1,000 tons and are drawn by two electric locomotives. Currently about 180 transports pass over the Semmering in 24 hours.
Journey durations: 1860 - 2h 4min; 1938 - 1h; 1990 - 42min. Today goods and passenger trains take about the same time.
The last fundamental innovation has been in force since 1 October 1977. Since that day the entire section between the stations of Payerbach-Reichenau and Mürzzuschlag has been remotely controlled from the station on the Semmering. Two stationmasters alternate on twelve-hour stints of duty.
In conclusion it can be stated that the Semmering Railway, whose construction was "decreed by Imperial Edict" over 150 years ago (3 August 1842), still meets the requirements of today. Only one new structure has been built - the second Semmering tunnel. However, due to the enormous strain on the section it has become necessary to perform constant repair and maintenance work. Not a day passes without work being done somewhere.
Major renovation work will become inevitable again, possibly also the construction of a base tunnel.
At any rate the route ought to be preserved and regional traffic directed "over the mountain". ould world train journeys should make the Semmering Railway into an attraction again for the Semmering and its environs.
During the first decades after construction not much was changed or repaired on the structures or the track. But the strain on the section became greater and greater; in the war years, for instance, coal transports crossed the mountain with three engines pulling 900 tons. At the time of the campaign in Yugoslavia more than 75,000 tons of freight were transported over the Semmering a day. But the route suffered severe damage and one of the greatest problems was caused by the 1,430-metre Semmering main tunnel. At the turn of the century the tunnel was closed with doors between trains, and the attempt was made to heat it with gas burners. Adverse geological conditions caused flooding, and in the winter of 1946/47 440 wagon loads of ice were removed from the tunnel. For this reason it was decided to build a new tunnel next to the old one. At that time about 28% of the tunnel walls was in danger of collapsing, 67% needed urgent repair and only 5% was in good condition.
Construction work commenced on 8 September 1949.
The new tunnel goes past the old one at a distance of up to 100 m and only joins the track at the entrances to the old tunnel. The reason for this was that the old tunnel was not to be exposed to risk by building work or vibrations. The new tunnel is 151.1 m long.
To build his tunnel without machines Ghetto required 4,000 men
and 4,000,000 days' work. 600 workmen and 282,000 days' work were
needed for the new tunnel.
The new tunnel was opened on 1 March 1952.
The chronicle of the constabulary station on the Semmering records two train collisions. On 9 August 1967 an electric locomotive going from the Semmering in the direction of Gloggnitz collided with a small rail vehicle ( a trolley) of a maintenance train. A number of workers were able to jump off in time, but the driver of the trolley and a workman were badly injured, the workman later dying in hospital. On 28 July 1976 an auxiliary engine crashed into a stationary express. 8 passengers were hurt and severe material damage was caused.
In both cases the stationmaster was to blame.
However, up to the present day the Semmering Railway has been spared major "railway disasters"