The line was originally built by the Sighișoara – Sibiu Local Railways Company which started work from Sighișoara in 1895 reaching Agnita by 1898 and Sibiu in 1910.[3] The Vurpăr branch was opened at the same time as the Sibiu extension. As the line originally lay within Hungary, the Hungarian State Railways operated services until 1919, when Transylvania became part of Romania. CFR then continued to operate services until 1965 when the original section from Sighișoara to Agnita was closed. In 1993 the Vurpăr branch line was closed,[4] with the rest of the line following in 2001.[5]
Reopening
Societatea Feroviară de Turism (SFT) originally planned to reopen the line as a tourist route but plans were shelved in 2006. After threats from CFR Infrastructură that track would be lifted all the rail infrastructure became protected as a historic monument in 2008.
Currently there is an active project called Asociația Prietenii Mocăniței ("Friends of the Narrow-gauge railway") and aimed at restoring the line for tourist operation; it operates occasional tourist steam trains on parts of the line.[6]
The first steam event took place in Agnita in 2010 on the occasion of the Sibiu extension's centenary. There was a second event in September 2015 with special trains running from Cornățel station.[7]
Bibliography
Lacriţeanu, Șerban (1995). "The Narrow Gauge Lines of the Romanian State Railway (CFR)". In Keith Chester (ed.). East European narrow gauge. Clevedon (UK): Channel View Publications. pp. 82–94. ISBN1-873150-04-0.
Engelbert, Paul (2011). Schmalspurig durch Ungarn II: die ehemals ungarischen Gebiete (in German). Malmö: Stenvalls. ISBN978-91-7266-177-6.