Study of development of regional railway system in Bukovyna

The article is devoted to the study, generalization and systematization of scientific knowledge about the history of the establishment, development and operation of the regional railway system in Bukovyna in the second half of XIX – early XX centuries. The authors attempted to analyze the process of creation and operation of railways in Bukovyna during the reign of the Austro-Hungarian Empire based on a wide range of previously unpublished archival documents, periodicals, statistical literature and memoirs. The article studies the development of organizational bases for the construction of railways, the activity of the communication network management, lists a whole range of requirements and tasks set for railway transport in Bukovyna, the progress of their implementation, considers successes and difficulties in this work. It is determined that private railways, as important transport arteries of Bukovyna, were of national importance and played a significant role in the transport system of Austria-Hungarian Empire. They served the leading economic districts of Bukovyna, acting as an integral part of production in each of them. In other words, they were used for development of local, intersectoral and interregional relations. Regional railways, first of all, played an important role in the social and economic life of Bukovyna region. In most cases, they did not carry the strategic cargo, but made it possible to connect the most remote corners of separate areas of the region into a single whole. In practice, local railways were a significant addition to the main central line, providing the latter with a greater intensity of cargo and passenger turnover and thus increasing their profitability. At the same time, the trade volume between the outskirts and the center of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was increased. It contributed to the intensification of economic development of certain districts of Bukovyna region.