ROUTE FUNCTION
LIST OF STOPS
- 1958: the line was extended to the upper part of Kateřinky.
- 1960: some services were extended into Blanická street, so the line then had three termini.
- 1 August 1964: the line was extended to Rudolfov, to Česká chalupa.
- 30 August 2015: selected services were extended all the way to Bedřichov, by which the line takes on its present form.
- 1 August 2022: the Rudolfov terminus by Česká chalupa was abolished and is now a through stop. Selected services newly switch here from/to line 19 (until then it was only the last service).
Line 18 is one of the most beautiful excursion lines, at least for passengers. The journey through the beautiful Jizera Mountains forest, however, also demands a high degree of attention from the driver, most of all on the Blanická - Rudolfov section. This section runs along a relatively narrow road with many bends, where you have to use the oncoming lane and at the same time cannot see around the corner. Visibility is moreover markedly worse during the growing season. An encounter with another bus or a lorry can become quite a big nuisance. The Blanická - Kateřinky křižovatka section is, in addition, not chemically treated in winter, so in the event of heavier snowfall it gets even narrower and ice is frequent on it (see the last video). The Rudolfov - Bedřichov section is somewhat more favourable in terms of space, yet some bends still require care, especially in winter — it is, after all, the crossing of the highest point in the Liberec transit network (the Bedřichov Maliník stop at 770 m above sea level). Another thing that adds to the need for close attention is the seasonal surges of passengers. On fine days a large number of tourists and cross-country skiers travel to Bedřichov. A reinforcement vehicle is not unusual. Conversely, in bad weather the bus may run almost empty for most of the route. Take a look at a summer trip to Bedřichov and back with an Iveco Urbanway #538. NOTE — unlike in the video, the line no longer departs from the stand by the OD Balon department store, but from stand 4.
Less well known is the very last service of line 18, which in Rudolfov switches to line 19 and continues back to the centre. You can ride this service in the depths of winter. Focus especially on the U Pramenů - Kateřinky křižovatka section, which is only ploughed. I believe at least part of the atmosphere I experience will reach you, when late in the evening I drive an empty bus through the silent snowy forests. Right at the start of the video you can also hear the dispatcher's departure signal. It was driven with an Iveco Urbanway #718.
It is almost the end of April and I am praying not to be left hanging helplessly on the road. Even though spring is in full swing, sleet is falling and freezing on the road. It is a reminder that I am climbing to the highest point of the Liberec transit network — the Maliník saddle at an altitude of 770 m. This year's spring was exceptionally cold across the whole region; even so, the temperature difference between Liberec and Maliník can sometimes surprise. Prepare yourself for an excursion line into the Jizera Mountains with a long tradition.
Of old and new department stores
Line 18 has its boarding stop outside the Fügnerova terminal oval, at the stand marked M in Malá Moskevská street opposite the former Balon department store. On it there also used to be probably the first advertising LCD panel, which illuminated the waiting passengers and which fell apart over time. In Balon and the houses around it there are still some services, but in the context of the new department stores around Fügnerova they have withered. After the start we immediately find ourselves in a fairly cramped street heading towards the Liberec chateau. It is lined mostly with taller apartment houses. Here we share the route with a great many other lines. As soon as we pass the Liberec chateau by literally centimetres, a large open space opens up with two traffic-light junctions, the Plaza shopping centre, the Hotel Liberec, the Zlatý Lev grand hotel, the majestic savings-bank building and other important buildings. Line 18 stops right in front of the entrance to the shopping centre on the tram tracks and soon moves to the upper junction and waits for the right lights so that it can leave this hubbub.
To the swimming pool
We leave the Šalďák along the narrow Sokolská street, but soon the space opens up again and we turn away from the main post office and the F. X. Šalda Theatre and stop at the Sokolská most stop, which is itself a work of art known as the Breakfast of the Giants. From here we can still glimpse the town hall and its square too. But ahead of us already rises the modern building of the Regional Research Library with the synagogue, on whose site an old synagogue stood until 1938. It was burned down during Kristallnacht. The first buses ran past it from the town hall to Ruprechtice, then still in private hands. The empty space was finally filled in 2001 by the Regional Research Library in Liberec, linked with a new synagogue. In front of it we turn right and, past the Technical University campus, several offices and tall apartment houses, we move to another square, this time Tržní. It is dominated by another department store, a relaxation zone and the old swimming pool. The pool and the whole area should soon, perhaps, undergo a major revitalisation. Line 18 here, in the direction from the centre, has a separate stop from the other lines, in front of the U Šesti Kohoutů restaurant. The other lines stop only in front of the department store, the former Interspar. This is because the 18 has to turn right before the department store, as the only one, apart from school line 53.
The district of the rich
Now it will become evident that we are already leaving the city centre and moving into its calmer parts. On the way past the lower barracks, large old villas begin to dominate, in which there are usually several flats nowadays. It continues like this along Horská street too, although from time to time some older small apartment house or panel block still appears. Horská street will stay with us for a long time yet. As soon as we climb the hill to the U Trianglu stop, the character of the landscape does not change much, but it seems we have moved in time. The old villas and apartment houses have been replaced by new ones, built mostly in the 21st century, though one can come across original houses too. Many of the new villas do not spare ostentation and luxury, and so this district is rightly spoken of as one of the richest in Liberec. It is also close from here to the popular Forest Lido and generally to the Jizera Mountains. In the district there is also the first terminus — U Pramenů. Most services, however, continue along Horská street. It already begins to twist suspiciously as the terrain becomes more rugged. The mix of old and new houses continues for a while yet, all the way to the next terminus — Blanická, which is only two stops further. At first glance it does not even look as if there is a terminus here; it is essentially a dirt car park. It is the starting point for visitors to the Way of the Cross leading to the Church of Our Lady U Obrázku, which hardly anyone calls anything but "the little chapel". The Way of the Cross leads all the way to the pilgrimage site U Obrázku, which, given how it looks today, has an incredible history. The pilgrimage site with a miraculous spring was known as early as the 15th century. On old postcards the place is beautifully kept and covered with holy pictures. Sadly that is no longer the case today, and at first glance one would not even recognise that it is such a significant place.
Into endless forests
Beyond Blanická the character changes again, and for a very long time. Horská street finds itself in dense forest and begins to twist even more. For the driver the blind bends are nothing pleasant, but the view is beautiful nonetheless. On the left we can occasionally glimpse the Kateřinky valley with the old factories using the flow of the Černá Nisa. I wrote about that under line 13. At night this section is so dark that one has the feeling of being somewhere far from civilisation. Before long we emerge at the junction with Kateřinská street, beside which, besides the forest, there is also a strange large villa. For the last years it has served as an asylum house, which causes an interesting paradox. Although the line passes through a rich district, the bus, on the contrary, usually contains the poorest residents of Liberec too. They get off right here. Notoriously known Liberec figures travel here too, such as Ljuba Skálová, regularly on the 20:20 service from Fügnerova. After these people get off, three scenarios can occur depending on the time of day and year. Either only a few people remain on the bus, or the bus is full of students, and/or it is full of tourists. If it is full of students, they are already preparing to get off at the next stop. From the junction the road begins to climb dramatically and we soon appear by the Kateřinky Secondary School with its boarding house. This short section of the route is shared with the extended services of line 13. The Kateřinky school has always fascinated me with its location. Completely cut off from the city, it is separated by several kilometres of pure forest, and a mountain torrent flows by it. The sports field is wedged into the narrow valley of the Černá Nisa. Where else is there anything like it? The services that end here turn around in a tiny courtyard in front of the school's main entrance. Although the school is completely isolated, it can be very busy at some hours. We drive around the school with two sharp bends and the road continues further through the dark forest uphill towards Rudolfov. We drive around a solitary industrial complex and the first houses begin to appear.
The destinations of long-ago tourists
The small Rudolfov water reservoir, a cultural monument from 1928, announces the beginning of the old village of Rudolfov, now the 21st part of Liberec. At least in its lower part it is still characterised by old homesteads and cottages, which are only slowly being renovated and are scattered across the grassy slopes of the valley. In the upper part, which we work our way to through narrow blind bends between the houses, new houses have, after all, been increasing in recent years. Mostly, however, they are log cabins, so the character remains village-mountain. Rudolfov is traditionally dominated by the junction with the Česká chalupa restaurant. There is another of the 18's termini, but a few line 19 services also end here, arriving from the other side of the hill along Jizerská street. Česká chalupa, together with the Jizerská chata nearby, has a long history, in which phases of decay and repair alternate. The bus terminus used to be called directly Česká chalupa, and the old reeve's house has stood on this spot since time immemorial. For at least over a hundred years it has been a popular destination for tourists, mainly from Liberec, which holds true to this day. The old glory has, in my view, nevertheless somewhat passed. Whoever does not find Rudolfov enough for a walk continues along the route further to Bedřichov, and we return to the forests. At the same time we definitively plunge into the Jizera Mountains Protected Landscape Area; until now we have moved only along its boundary.
The highest-lying point of the transit network
Another long climb in forested bends awaits us. The road, however, is fairly wide and the forest is not so dense, so it is a fairly clear section. On the lower part of Horská street beech woods dominated; here it is already a monoculture spruce forest. Here we can see remnants of snow long after it has melted elsewhere. At the end of the climb the summit finally appears, that is, the Maliník saddle with a park-and-ride car park and a small refreshment stand. Maliník is another old starting point for tourists heading, for example, to the Bedřichov/Černá Nisa dam or to the hills above Bedřichov. Beyond the saddle we descend a steep little hill straight into the well-known gateway of the Jizera Mountains — Bedřichov. Past a number of older and brand-new houses, which often serve as guesthouses and hotels, we descend all the way to the loop, which adjoins a cross-country skiing stadium, a pond and a large car park. It is precisely here that the famous Jizerská padesátka and many other cross-country, cycling and running events start, and many tourists begin and end their trips here. Sometimes there are so many day-trippers that queues form here. The small water reservoir by the loop makes the wait for departure pleasant for passengers and drivers alike. From here you can also see the many ski lifts in the village, on which I did a fair bit of skiing. Bedřichov is also among the places with frequent record precipitation. It happens that in Liberec it is relatively nice, but you drive up here and it is drizzling and the cloud base is very low, or you are right in the clouds. That is also why the local winters are rich in snow, which drivers do not always appreciate, but for that view it is simply worth it.