The adjustment of international rail passenger services to new state boundaries – the Eastern Marchlands of Europe 1918–39

Abstract

This paper considers the problems which confronted governments in restoring international railway services after the Peace Treaties of 1918–20 in the Eastern Marchlands of Europe, namely the states of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria, Romania and Yugoslavia. The states which emerged from the old Austro-Hungarian Empire inherited railway networks which did not meet their needs, necessitating new construction for which funds were scarce. The railway infrastructure had been damaged by war and lack of maintenance again requiring substantial investment. The service patterns are compared by means of a city pairs analysis which examines minimum frequencies/journey times between five capital cities – Warsaw, Prague, Vienna, Budapest and Belgrade between 1925 and 1935. An examination of border delays is also undertaken for the same period. © 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.