Railway Track in Žirany
The railway track Zlaté Moravce – Zbehy forms the last section of the connection line between Leopoldov and Kozárovce, which was intended to shorten the railway connection between the regions of Považí and Pohroní. The track was built in 1936–1938. Its importance even grew after the occupation of southern Slovakia by Hungary in November 1938, because it provided a railway connection between Bratislava and Central Slovakia.
From station No. 32 we continue on the field road along the red marking (0706) to an old bridge above the railway track, where we turn right on a local asphalted road.
Time: 5 min., in the opposite direction 5 min., length: 300 m, easy.
Construction of the 34.052-km-long track began in July 1936. Preparatory work on the project was provided by the Central railway administration in Prague. A number of companies from Bratislava, Ostrava, and Prague took part in the construction, construction workers were drawn from the surrounding municipalities. The track opened on 15 May 1938 and was in operation, with short interruptions during World War II until 2 February 2003. Currently it is used only occasionally and only for material handling and shunting. The railway station Žirany was built in 1938 together with other commercial facilities in its neighbourhood (Flammable liquid storage, weighbridge, signalman’s houses etc.). The main building still represents a nice example of the functionalist railway architecture of the 1930s.
The railway tracks towards Lužanky and Zlaté Moravce are descending; the station is situated at the highest spot of the whole railroad, on an altitude of 253 MASL. On both sides of the station, the original signals (semaphores, lights) are preserved.
Most problems have been caused by frequent landslips (for example in 1995 a 15-m- high earth dam slipped on a length of 150 m, other landslips occurred in May and June 2010); these require technically elaborate and financially demanding reconstructions. The project of a seasonal use of the track leading through the picturesque landscape of the south-western part of the Tribeč Mountains from Lužanky to Jelenec has not been realised yet.
