Svishtov in the Railway Policy of Bulgaria from the Liberation to 1912

The report traces the projects from the Renaissance era, in which the town of Svishtov was included as a starting point for a railway line. It examines the plans of the Temporary Russian Occupation and the railway policy of the first Bulgarian governments. The role of the local municipal authority and economic figures in raising awareness about the issue of connecting the town to the central railway is revealed. Based on information from the stenographic records of the VIII and IX National Assemblies, the debates at the government level on resolving this issue are followed. It becomes clear that on November 27, 1895, Svishtov representatives At. Dankov, G. B. Nenovich, and F. Marinov submitted a proposal to the VIII National Assembly to amend the Law on the Design and Construction of the Railway Network. It contained two requests: first, to connect the Svishtov port with the central railway Roman – Pleven – Shumen through a branch wide-gauge railway line Svishtov – Gradishte. They proposed that it be part of the railway network and built with a loan obtained for the construction of railways in Bulgaria. Second, that the government be tasked with studying this line in the shortest possible time and putting it up for tender for construction so it could be ready for operation simultaneously with the central line. Their goal was achieved on December 13, 1898, when the IX National Assembly, in its regular session, passed a law amending the Law on the Design and Construction of the Railway Network in the country. Along with three other lines, the Svishtov – Gradishte line was put up for tender for construction. The worsening financial crisis halted the railway construction. After a long wait for the construction of a railway line to Svishtov, it wasn't until 1906 that the government organized a tender for its construction, which was won by the General Construction Company. It was finally decided that the junction would be near the town of Levski. Construction began at the end of 1906, and the line was handed over for operation on August 9, 1909. The conclusion is reached that the town's isolation from the central railway line was one of the most important reasons, along with national and other local issues, for its decline. The local public blamed the government for the lack of a railway branch, believing that the railways were being built not out of necessity but for political reasons, favoring certain towns.