The route runs from Banská Bystrica, through Harmanec, to Kremnica and back through Hronská Dúbrava and Zvolen. The journey ends again in Banská Bystrica. The line between Banská Bystrica and Horná Štubňa is named SNP Line. Its uniqueness, as well as the unique stories that took place on the route between Kremnica and Zvolen,
The original line Zvolen – Vrútky was part of the Hungarian Northern Railway Budapest – Salgótarján – Lučenec – Zvolen – Vrútky (connection with the Košice-Bohumín Railway), which was put into operation on August 12, 1872. Considerations about the connection of Zvolen with the Košice-Bohumín Railway via Ružomberok or Harmanec were not implemented due to high costs. In the end, the variant leading through Kremnica was chosen.
The section between Zvolen and Banská Bystrica was included in lines II. class and operated on September 3, 1873. The connection of B. Bystrica with Turc was out of date for many years. The interconnection of the lines leading to Pohronie and Turcom was started only in the interwar period when the so-called Central Slovak transversal – Nitra line resp. It represents uniqueness, as well as unique stories that took place on the route between Kremnica and Zvolen.
In 1931, the Handlová – Horná Štubňa railway line, connecting the Ponitrie and Turiec regions, was put into operation, and in 1936, the Červená Skala – Margecany line, which was fed to the Žilina – Košice line. After the completion of these sections, in 1936 the construction of the last section Banská Bystrica – Dolná Štubňa began, which was to connect the existing lines.
The missing section between Banská Bystrica and Dolná Štubňa was to have a length of 40,956 km and to overcome the altitude difference of 373.78 m from the Bystrice and 125.62 m from the Turčianská side. The number of tunnels and lengths changed during construction due to difficult geological conditions. The highest point of the track reached an altitude of 692.94 m above sea level.
The demanding mountain track at the junction of Veľká Fatra and Kremnické vrchy uses 22 tunnels with a total length of 12,211 meters, 112 bridges, and culverts. Up to 12,339 workers worked on the construction site (May 1938) and so it was ceremoniously opened on December 19, 1940.
At the end of World War II, most of the viaducts and bridges were destroyed by the retreating Germans, and after their repair, traffic was resumed on March 17, 1946.
