Brčko – Banovići: The first railway built by children

The idea of building a railway line that would connect the rich coal mining sites of the Banovići basin with the main transport routes in the country, i.e., with large consumer centers in all parts of the country, existed even before the outbreak of World War II. Therefore, when the horrors of war subsided, the construction of the Brčko – Banovići railway was among the first investment projects of the former Yugoslavia, writes the BiH news agency Patria.

The length of this railway, located in northern Bosnia, is 92 kilometers. It was created as a result of the first youth work action in Yugoslavia. According to available data, more than 62,000 young people from all over Yugoslavia and more than 1,000 brigadiers from abroad participated in its construction.

In mid-March 1946, the construction department of the then Ministry of Transport received an order to carry out preparatory work. The construction plan was completed in less than a month. Preparations began on April 1, and this date is still considered the date of the start of youth work actions for the construction of this railway. The work was completed in a record time, and the first train passed on this railway on November 7 of the same year.

Nobel laureate Miroslav Krleža said that this is certainly not the first railway in the world, but it is the first built by children.

In addition to ensuring the supply of coal to large cities in the Sava River valley, the railway was also significant for bringing food from the starving and devastated northeastern Bosnia.

Due to the great haste, some sections were built poorly, for example, embankments that collapsed, so they were repaired quietly after the opening.

A major typhus epidemic broke out in the youth barracks, reports NAP.