Železniční trať 260 Česká Třebová – Brno - Železniční trať 260 Česká Třebová – Brno

Railway line 260 is a part of the railway infrastructure of the Czech Republic, the national railway is operated by the state organization Railway Administration and from the timetable of passenger trains 2019/2020 the railway line runs on the route Česká Třebová (zero kilometer) - Brno (91 km) - Vyškov to Moravia (136 km). The Česká Třebová - Brno line section is part of the so-called first railway corridor for long-distance railway transport between Děčín and Břeclav and at the same time included in the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) system to ensure the modernization of transport infrastructure within European Union. The entire length of the railway is electrified, Česká Třebová - Svitavy with a 3 kV DC traction system and from Svitavy to Brno to Vyškov na Moravě with a 25 kV / 50 Hz AC traction system, in January 1999 operation began in the entire Česká Třebová - Brno line section. The line sections are part of integrated transport, from Česká Třebová to Letovice in the Pardubice Region and from Letovice to Brno to Vyškov na Moravě in the South Moravian Region, and freight transport is also operated along the line. The railway is used by several carriers, with a large share of Czech Railways in passenger transport. Historically, the railway was routed from Brno to Česká Třebová as part of the construction of one of the first railways leading from Vienna, Austria (zero-kilometer railway) via Hevlín in the Czech lands, then to Střelice and Brno (at railway station 155,770). The construction, motivated by the requirement to shorten the connection between Vienna, Austria, Moravian Brno, Prague in Bohemia and Dresden in Saxony, was carried out in the then Austrian Empire by the railway company k.k. Nördliche Staatsbahn (Czech: Severní státní dráha). The Brno - Česká Třebová line section was run in difficult conditions through rugged terrain through the Svitava river valley, and ten tunnels were cut between Brno and Blansko. The track is very attractive for tourists, I especially recommend the track section from Brno to Svitavy or in the opposite direction. From Česká Třebová, approximately to the Stvolová stop, the railway runs along the Svitavy Uplands in the natural area of ​​the Českotřebovská Highlands, then crosses the Boskovice furrow in the Malá Haná Natural Area via Letovice and Skalica nad Svitavou. At the Doubravice nad Svitavou stop, trains enter the Drahanská Highlands and from Rájec-Jestřebí continue south along the nearby natural area of ​​the Moravian Karst, I recommend Blansko as a starting point. Behind the last tunnel and bridge over the river Svitava, roughly on the edge of the city of Brno - Maloměřice, the Dyjsko-svratecký úval railway continues to Brno main railway station in the natural area of ​​the Pracká hills. From Brno, the route continues through the Dyjsko-svratecké úval to the Rousínov valley, where trains enter the Vyškovská / Rousínovská brána nature area, after the Luleč railway station to the so-called final station in Vyškov na Moravě, they go through the Vyškovská / Ivanovická brána valley. Virtually all railway stations and stops in the Česká Třebová - Brno main railway station section and many as far as Vyškov in Moravia are suitable as starting points for tourism (see places on the map). At the Svitavy railway station, the railway Svitavy - Polička - Žďárec u Skutče deviates from the line (the highest line in the Pardubice Region, see also the list), at the Skalice nad Svitavou railway station the railway Skalice nad Svitavou - Velké Opatovice branches off. CZ220226 / photo © Jan Šrajer