Rajec had one thing it could not get by road, and that was bulk. The answer was a branch railway up the valley from Žilina. The concession was granted on 10 November 1898, building began on 16 January 1899, and the line opened on 10 October 1899: 21.285 kilometres, built by a Viennese contractor, paid for by the county and the villages along it, with a maximum speed of 40 kilometres an hour. It ends in Rajec and always has. Without it the woodworking trade could never have grown past what a cart could carry over the pass.Rajcu chýbalo jediné, čo po ceste nezískal — kapacita. Odpoveďou bola lokálka zo Žiliny hore dolinou. Koncesiu vydali 10. novembra 1898, stavať sa začalo 16. januára 1899 a trať otvorili 10. októbra 1899: 21,285 kilometra, postavené viedenským staviteľom a zaplatené stolicou a obcami popri trati, s najvyššou rýchlosťou 40 kilometrov za hodinu. Končí v Rajci a vždy končila. Bez nej by drevárske remeslo nikdy neprerástlo to, čo uvezie voz cez sedlo.