Liberec Routes

Between 1999 and 2001 there was an obligation to mark lines running beyond the municipality of Liberec with three-digit numbers. Services of line 16 continuing past Hamrštejn were therefore marked with the number 161. As a point of interest, I include the list of stops valid on 1 January 2000, including the request stops and tariff-zone boundaries in force at the time.

Buses marked with the number 161 appear from 1 January 1999, when the obligation to mark lines running beyond the municipality of Liberec with three-digit numbers came into force. The services of line 16 running all the way to Kryštofovo Údolí and Novina were marked this way. The obligation ended at the end of 2001, and so from 2002 this number disappears from Liberec public transport.

Timetable from 2001

Apart from the vehicle fleet, which at that time was based on Karosa 700-series buses, not much has changed since the days this line operated, so I give the same driver's view as for line 16.

Line 16 is the longest line by distance, with several faces thanks to its large number of termini. Despite the many termini, however, it has no detours like, say, line 22. The shortest services to Ostašov are in no way different from other radial lines. The more distant termini, though, are typical for their rural character, where along low-traffic roads (in a poor state of surface) we travel quite long distances, first to the outlying parts of Liberec and then to villages beyond Liberec. The services to Novina and the Křižany saddle can be called outright excursion services. The Křižany saddle terminus holds a privileged position in the whole transit network. It is served only from April to October, twice a day on Saturday and Sunday. Some drivers genuinely look forward to this experience ride along the endless narrow road, others are rather afraid of it. In any case, you can see it in the footage below with an Irisbus Urbanway #717.

Despite the line's mostly tranquil character, considerable delays can still arise on it in the centre of Liberec. They are the result of frequent jams during afternoon peaks around the big junction by the viaduct and on Košická street. The most problematic thing on this line, in my view, are the narrow roads with poor visibility. The problem is the greater the more distant the section from Liberec is. Judge for yourself.

This line does not have a local-geography article.