ABSTRACT
The first modern automatic train protection system with individual inbuilt relay was from the Ericsson Company and it was installed in Kralova Lehota station in 1951. The modernisation of Zvolen Station began in 1952. A station for passenger transport was built at the location of the original station, Zvolen Castle. The system of central planning did not work well for railway transport. After 1989 great changes in the world economy took place. The decline of rail transport resulted not only from the gloomy situation on Balkan and in post-Soviet countries, but also from the development of individual motoring. Coal was replaced by gas and this affected transport demands. At this stage of decline of passenger and cargo transport, on 1 January 1993, as the Slovak Republic became independent, the Railways of Slovak Republic was founded. Slovakia was well equipped with north-south railway lines oriented towards Budapest, Bratislava and Koice, the main city of the eastern part.
