The first section of the Pomeranian metre gauge system opened in 1895 as the Saatziger Kleinbahnen from Stargard to Insko (Noerenberg). The Saatziger system later developed lines to Dobra Nowogardzkie (Daber), Drawsko Pom. (Dramburg) and Pozrzadlo Dwor (Klein Spiegel Gut). A plan of the whole Pomerania network is shown on Paul Engelbert's site at: http://www.fortunecity.de/lindenpark/bruecke/549/pommern.htm
Also in 1895 the first section of the Kolberger Kleinbahnen opened, and eventually this system consisted of lines from Kolobrzeg (Kolberg) to Resko (Regenwalde), Karlino, Wlosciborz, Slawoborze and Tapadly.
In 1896 the first section of the Greifenberger Kleinbahnen opened to 750mm gauge from Gryfice (Greifenberg) to Niechorze (Horst Seebad), and in 1898 another line opened from Gryfice through Tapadly (Dummadel) to Dargoslaw (Dargislaff). When the Kolberger Kleinbahnen reached Tapadly in 1899 the problems of different gauges became all too clear and in 1900 the Greifenberger system was regauged to 1000mm. Further extensions included a line from Popiele, just west of Gryfice, to the harbour of Stepnica, and by 1913 a circular route had been completed from Gryfice through Niechorze, Trzebiatow and Tapadly and so back to Gryfice. There were also a number of relatively short branches to Mrzezyno, Trzygolw, Sniatowo and Rokita.
Also in 1896 the Regenwalder Kleinbahnen opened a metre gauge line from Dobra Nowogardzkie (connecting with the Saatziger system) to Lobez. In 1907 a further line opened north to Resko, thus connecting the four metre gauge lines into a single network.
To the east of the metre gauge lines there were two 750mm gauge systems, the first sections of which opened in 1898. The Koeslin Bublitz Belgarder Kleinbahnen eventually ran from Koszalin (Koeslin) through Manowo (Manow) and Swielino (Schwellin) to Bobolice (Bublitz), with branches from Manowo to Naclaw and from Swielino to Bialogard (Belgard), from there a reversal gave access to a line to Rarwino (Rarfin). At Naclaw there was a connection with the Schlawer Kleinbahn, running south to Polanow, Zydowo and Gologora. Most of the Schlawer Kleinbahn was converted to standard gauge in 1934, but part was kept as mixed gauge to allow 750mm gauge trains to reach Polanow.
After the Second World War Pomerania became part of Poland, but the railways were in a very poor state. The 750mm gauge lines had been dismantled by the Soviets in 1945/6 and the Koszalin - Bobolice and Swielino Bialogard Rarwino lines were rebuilt to metre gauge and, by construction of a new 6km section from Rarwino to Lepino Trojkat, these lines were linked to the rest of the metre gauge in 1952. In 1959 the network extended to 555km of lines; some sections did not reopen after the war.
Lines in the Kolobrzeg area closed as early as the sixties, and there were closures and service reductions elsewhere. However in 1989 the system still had 461km of track, and carried 700,221 passengers and 349,932 tons of freight. In 1995 the system was recorded as being 460.8km, of which 350.7km was operational, and by the beginning of 1996 this had dropped to 440.1km and 335.7km respectively. In that year the system was cut back quite severely, so that only three sections survived in operation: Stargard Dobra Nowogardzkie, Gryfice Trzebiatow and Koszalin Swielino.
After a series of reductions in the timetable, regular passenger services ceased in June 2001, the last trains on the Stargard Dobra Nowogardzkie line were on 9 June, when railcar MBxd2-307 formed the 05.15 departure from Dobra Nowogardzkie and the final train, the 09.00 from Stargard to Dobra Nowogardzkie. Summer services continued from Gryfice as far as Pogorzelica Gryficka (Trzebiatow could no longer be reached due to problems with a weak bridge). One return tourist train also continued to operate from Koszalin daily until the end of July and then at weekends until the end of August. In April 2000 only the Stargard line showed any evidence of freight traffic, and that was very light and probably ceased by the end of September 2001. Some freight traffic apparently survived on the Koszalin line, to an airfield, but that also ceased in 2001.
A local authority is believed to have taken over the Stargard Dobra Nowogardzkie line with the intention of restoring regular passenger and freight services, probably operated by SKPL. Similarly a local authority is believed to have taken over the Koszalin Swielino line, but it is not known whether the intention is to operate regular services or merely tourist trains. There has also been mention of reviving the Dobrzany Kozy Pomorskie Insko section of the Stargard system, which closed in 1996, for tourist traffic, but nothing appears to have happened as yet. The only line currently running trains is Gryfice, which runs tourist services in the summer to Pogorzelica (although most trains only run between Rewal and Pogorzelica, with just one working out from Gryfice in the morning and one back in the evening.
Other sites featuring the Pomeranian network:
Peter Wilhelm's site (German langauge but with introductions in English and Polish): http://www.bahn-in-pommern.de/
Czech text by Filip Karonski: http://spz.logout.cz/uzke/gryfice.html
Jakub Halor's site: http://www.cn.com.pl/~di2/photo.htm
Helge Ralf Harling's site (German language) at: http://home.eplus-online.de/harni/
Hinrich Brummers site (German language) at: http://home.t-online.de/home/hinrich.bruemmer/fg_po_378_index.htm
Aleksander Maron's site (Polish language) at: http://www.kolej.pl/~maron/
Martin Wollmann's site (German language) at: http://www.stillgelegt.de/stargard/stargard.htm
and http://www.stillgelegt.de/koszalin/koszalin.htm
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© Andrew
Goodwin, Stephen Goodwin & Dave Meller
1996-2003
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