# NORTH MACEDONIA | Railways



## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Gubot said:


> I have a question. Both new DMUs and EMUs will have 140kmh speed, right?


Actually, the speed will be 120 km/h.


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## jyvation (Aug 6, 2014)

Gubot said:


> Very, very impressive. ~30m by my GE measurements.:cheers:
> 
> I have a question. Both new DMUs and EMUs will have 140kmh speed, right?


Yes, but the speed of macedonian railway lines is projected at 120kmh.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Skopje-Bitola by train 

55778316


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## Jeff Hawken (Jun 15, 2009)

Link to the Macedonain Railways summer 2014 timetable, including international services. http://mztransportad.com.mk/dokumenti/IZMENET KURIR-Juni 2014.pdf


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Apparently, this is the look of the new Chinese trains for the Macedonian Railways Company:
































































According this article (in Macedonian language), the first of the six trains will be available for use in August 2015. There are going to be four diesel and two electric trains. Each train will have capacity of 200 passengers, and they will be used to the most frequent railroad lines.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Some photos that I've found on Flickr...

MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr

MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr

MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr

MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr

MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr

MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr

MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr

MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr

MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr

MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr

MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr

MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr

MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr

MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr

MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr

MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr

MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr

MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr

MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr


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## Klausenburg (Jul 25, 2007)

These ones it seems that were imported from Romania (Swedish licence) . The last one I belive is genuine Swedish (but not sure)... 



Skopje/Скопје;118206448 said:


> MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr
> 
> MŽ Depot Skopje by Kosrail, on Flickr
> 
> ...


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## Junkie (Oct 5, 2007)

A true horror. The worst is that we need regional development for the things to get moving. And there is no regional development.


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## jyvation (Aug 6, 2014)

Klausenburg said:


> These ones it seems that were imported from Romania (Swedish licence) . The last one I belive is genuine Swedish (but not sure)...


Not Romania but Croatia from "Rade Koncar".The lincese is under ASEA from Sweden.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

> *Railway to Bulgaria: By 2022 Macedonians Will Travel to Sofia by Train*
> 
> October 22, 2014, Wednesday @ 12:04 in Business » PROPERTIES | Views: 83
> Railway to Bulgaria: By 2022 Macedonians Will Travel to Sofia by Train Railway construction Photo: Dnevnik.mk
> ...


- See more at: http://www.independent.mk/articles/...Travel+to+Sofia+by+Train#sthash.7uLfTxOk.dpuf


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Some photos of the reconstruction of the Skopje's main railway station... New elevators will be installed, the total interior will be renewed, new info boards will be installed and the height of the platforms will be elevated. The reconstruction should end by April 15th 2015.













































































































http://www.build.mk/?p=40315


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## jyvation (Aug 6, 2014)

*Arrived first new 15 wagons*











Container wagons arrived on time because the MZ-Transport will need them for the expected increased transportation for the known clients Sony, Hewlett Packard and Hyundai in the future, reports Vecher.

Macedonia is updating rolling stock, both freight and in passenger traffic and for the next period is expected to increase engagement, especially of containers for transport of goods.

As wrote Vecher, fifteen of the 150 new freight cars were ordered from the manufacturer ZHOS Trnava in Slovakia and will arrive later this or early next month.

- Currently, MZ-Transport has approximately 1,000 freight cars of various types. The supply of new means launch of fleet renewal for freight wagons as our band is pretty old and their maintenance requires increased costs. The purchase of new cars will reduce costs, but also means we will start new shipping, which means new shipping routes from the port of Piraeus to central Europe – says the director of MZ-Transport Oliver Derkovski.

The procurement of 150 wagons cost 13.2 million euro, half of the new cars are coaches (containers), which primarily will be used by the MZ-Transport for the expected increased transport for known customers in the future.

- Organized by the Chinese company “Bones,” which manages the Greek port of Igoumenitsa in Piraeus, and shipper “Schenker” as organizer of shipping, MZ-Transport conducted three test rail tracks, loaded with goods for factories of Sony (computer parts and monitors) in Geer, Hungary (which were delivered with great time, i.e. driving the 52 hours long route) and Hewlett Packard plant in Pardubice, Czech Republic. This is a new, yet non-existent rail container transport, first from south to central Europe, at time when it there was transport from the north or south of Hamburg to the continent – says Derkovski.

All trains had 36 to 38 containers, with the requirement of “Schenker”, MZ-Transport secure their cars.

- This is good as so far, the container rail transport was dead. It is good opportunity to increase rail transit commutes here as only in circumstances of only domestic cargoes we hope to improve transportation. And, according to the announced “Schenker” will increase the quota of trains, we expect soon to have one train per day, i.e. twice a week – highlighted Derkovski.

He announced that next month would begin to drive for the giant Hyundai and markets in Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary.

Besides wagons MZ -Transport purchased six passenger railway sets. The delivery of the first set will begin in August next year and end 2015 will arrive all. The investment in new passenger trains is 25 million euro.

Yesterday, in Skopje was hosted the first meeting of the Working Group 502 of the International Union of Railways (UIC) where was discussed for the special shipping consignments in size or scope to pass standard dimensions, which are prescribed in the regulations, given the size of tunnels, loads of bridges etc. Director of MR-Infrastructure, Irfan Asani informed about the extensive investment cycle in the country worth 587 million euro, which relates to improving the overall situation of the railway system.

- Within the framework of this conference, we have already determined some changes and rules that should apply in the future, so that we as Transport Company will honor them and we will offer our clients transport shipments with special dimensions – stressed Derkovski.

http://kurir.mk/en/?p=39074


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

News from Macedonia...



> *EBRD Approves EUR 305 Million for the Railroad to Bulgaria and New Roads*
> 
> November 12, 2014
> 
> ...


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Sorry about the small size of the map...










source


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Short documentary about the narrow-gauge Macedonian steam train built in 1895. Join the idyllic world of conductor Petra Mihalowski, whose slow train passes by charming scenes of daily life during its journey between Presak & Ohrid. 

The documentary is in English language.


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## Macedonia (Jan 3, 2008)

Skopje/Скопје;119564495 said:


> Sorry about the small size of the map...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Baron Hirsch (Jan 31, 2009)

Despite the idiotic commentary really great pics from 1972 Ohrid, Skopsko, thanx! However your dating of the line is not correct. It was built during the German occupation 1915-1918, which is why it is such an unambitious, low-tech line quickly put together to transport heavy weaponry to the front (see Nada Boshkovska, Das jugoslawische Makedonien 1918-1941. Eine Randregion zwischen Repression und Integration, Vienna 2009, 318-323). 
When did operations cease and is there still any trace of the line visible today?


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Baron Hirsch said:


> When did operations cease and is there still any trace of the line visible today?


The line was closed somewhere in the 1970's. And yes, today you can see some parts of the line, for example, this is a tunnel of the old narrow-gauge line:



















photos by gjoko


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## Baron Hirsch (Jan 31, 2009)

Looks like it would make a great walking path. I once saw the abandoned railway Gradsko-Prilep-Bitola and it looked similar, but I believe the rails were still on the track. Thanks alot.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

*Bulgarian consortium will reconstruct the railway Bitola-Kremenica*



> The European Union on the recently completed international bidding chose Bulgarian consortium for the reconstruction of the railway line from Bitola to Kremenica, with a length of 17 kilometers. The construction activities will begin in early 2015 and should finish in a period of 18 months. The value of the entire project is 20 million euros, provided by the EU funds. The contractor is obliged to reconstruct the line that was not in use for quite long time, to build a new rail up to the industrial zone "Žabeni" and to build a new station at this location, to reconstruct the position near the village of Кravari, to build and rehabilitate nine smaller bridges and 10 railway crossings and to set signal and telecommunication equipment.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


source (in Macedonian language)


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## gippas (Nov 19, 2013)

^^
There are already passenger trains from Florina to Thessaloniki, 3 pairs per day, so maybe one of them could be extended to Bitola? It would be great to have more transport links between the two countries. In the future it could mean that people from Bitola could visit Athens by train in less than 7 hours, making an overnight train a possibility.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

^^ I believe that's the intention - in near future to have functional railroad connection between our two countries (passenger and transport trains).


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## Kolerus (Mar 11, 2014)

When would go new train in service?


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## jyvation (Aug 6, 2014)

^^
Perhaps the first in August or september, and every month one by one will arrive.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

A little bit older news...



> *Macedonian Railways received 107 new wagons*
> 
> _03.03.2015_
> 
> The fleet of the Macedonian Railways is enriched for 107 new freight cars that were presented today in Skopje. By the end of the month is expected to be delivered the remaining 43 cars from the Slovakian company "Trnava" which will complete the purchase in the amount of 13.2 million euros.
















































source (in Macedonian language)


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

> *Two New Bitola-Skopje Train Lines to Be Introduced*
> 
> _March 27, 2015, Friday _
> 
> ...


- See more at: http://www.independent.mk/articles/...n+Lines+to+Be+Introduced#sthash.sQSLyXcu.dpuf


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## jyvation (Aug 6, 2014)

*Macedonia got the first ultramodern train*

Next month in Macedonia will be delivered the first of six passenger trains for the “Macedonian Railways Transport” AD produced by the Chinese company CRRC. New passenger electromotive furniture was promoted today at the plant of the company in the city Zhuzhou before Macedonian delegation led by Minister of Transport and Communications Minister Vlado Misajlovski, reports MIA.










The train has three carriages with capacity of 200 passengers and is able to speed up to 160 kilometers per hour, reports MIA. From CRRC inform that Macedonia will purchases another four diesel electric motors and gaskets, which according to the minister Misajlovski should arrive by January next year.

source: http://kurir.mk/en/?p=47330

Some photos:


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## MarcVD (Dec 1, 2008)

^^^^
Can you tell us a bit more about the narrow gauge tracks that seem to survive in some of the pictures above ? Many thanks in advance !


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## an-148 (Jun 9, 2007)

MarcVD said:


> ^^^^
> Can you tell us a bit more about the narrow gauge tracks that seem to survive in some of the pictures above ? Many thanks in advance !


it seems that the pictures are made in the factory (in China).


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## Baron Hirsch (Jan 31, 2009)

An, that is not what he is asking.
Marc, see my post on the previous page. The two narrow gauge lines were built by German occupying troops in Serbia in WWI, in order to facilitate transport to the front with French/British troops in Salonica. They were hastily built and not meant as serious infrastructure investment, but as these rather remote regions had at the time no better connections, were used for several decades.


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## MarcVD (Dec 1, 2008)

No that's my mistake. I did not look very deeply to the pictures above showing the new
macedonian rolling stock, and did not realise that they were not taken in Macedonia. But
I did see the 3-rails track sections and incorrectly assumed that there were still narrow
gauge trains in use in Macedonia. I stand now corrected, thank you.


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## New Urbanism (Jul 8, 2015)

Hi,can someone put some pictures of reconstructed central railway station Skopje.Tnx.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

The station is still under reconstruction, no significant progress is made so far.


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## jyvation (Aug 6, 2014)

New Urbanism said:


> Hi,can someone put some pictures of reconstructed central railway station Skopje.Tnx.





























source: http://www.build.mk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=531&PID=197507#197507


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## New Urbanism (Jul 8, 2015)

Thnak you it seems ok,let s hope for the best!


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## jyvation (Aug 6, 2014)

*railway station Skopje*


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## jyvation (Aug 6, 2014)

*Overhaul of Prilep railway station*

Prilep will soon get a modern transport center through the overhaul of the railway station and its merger with the new bus station, which was put into use a year ago, said Prilep Mayor Marjan Risteski.

The railway station reconstruction is part of the project for overhaul of ten such stations throughout Macedonia. The Corridor 10*related project also includes railway stations in Veles, Bitola, Gevgelija, Bogomila, Caska, Tabanovce, Demir Kapija, Gradsko and Negotino. The investment for the stations reconstruction amounts to EUR 2,2 million, along with EUR 2,9 million for overhaul of the Skopje railway station.

http://english.republika.mk/overhaul-of-prilep-railway-station/


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## bench_mark_2 (Feb 23, 2012)

Is the railway connection to Sofia under construction?


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Officially yes, but on terrain there is almost no construction works, at least they are not visible at this time.


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## NordikNerd (Feb 5, 2011)

*No limit*

Are there no regulations regarding the maximum number of passengers in Macedonian passenger coaches ?









Seems like railway security in Macedonia is on par with India. 









I think that the maximum number of passengers on this train is exceeded, is it even possible to get off at the next station if you're in the middle of the waggon? If someone bought a ticket for this train and wasnt able to board it due to the passenger mayhem, will the macedonian railways refund the ticket or arrange for an additional train?


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

This chaos happens when the train arrives... Hundreds of migrants are running towards the coaches, but then the police is reacting and returns most of them, until the train receives aprox. 200 passengers. Most of this photos are made at the beginning, when the migrants run towards the train, probably to cause certain emotions at the viewers. 

Although, most of the blame for this chaos goes to the National Railroad company and the Macedonian police. The migrants are just desperate people, running from the middle eastern hell for a better life in EU.

On this photo you can see a fight between migrants who want so enter the train:










Migrants waiting for new train. Trash everywhere. Nobody is cleaning. 










Migrants sleeping in front of the train station in Gevgelija, a town right next to the border with Greece:










They wanna enter the train by all the ways and means possible:










Migrants everywhere:




























And finally, after the police officers will "clean up" the trains from the extra migrants:














































all photos by Ognen Teofilovski/Reuters


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## Baron Hirsch (Jan 31, 2009)

Thanks for the pictures, Skopsko, and good to know that the trains once moving are full but not as suffocatingly full as the other pictures imply. To my knowledge, MZ has already scheduled three trains in addition to the regular trains on this route. But I guess with just 200 passengers per train, that is far from enough. A worthwhile article on how refugees make their way through Macedonia (In German): http://www.berliner-zeitung.de/poli...weg-durch--mafidonien-,10808018,31497354.html


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## Theijs (Aug 15, 2012)

As I understood from another forum: international passengers on the route Thessaloniki - Beorgrad/Budapest can stay together in the MAV Bc, if they request on time at couchette steward in Thessaloniki.


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## NordikNerd (Feb 5, 2011)

Skopje/Скопје;126424710 said:


> This chaos happens when the train arrives... Hundreds of migrants are running towards the coaches, but then the police is reacting and returns most of them, until the train receives aprox. 200 passengers.


Interesting. I wonder if all of them payed for the tickets, or maybe some of them tried to travel for free, but where thrown off.

I have seen african beach vendors freeriding trains without paying for the ticket on italian regional trains along the coast, one of them looks out for the conductor and if they see him, they hide in the toilet or run to another coach so they can get off the train at the next station without beeing caught.


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## doc7austin (Jun 24, 2012)

> The migrants are just desperate people, running from the middle eastern hell for a better life in EU.


I am not buying this argument. Most of the refugees, who are transiting Macedonia, have passed Greece.
Greece is an EU member. There is also no ISIS terror there.


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## VITORIA MAN (Jan 31, 2013)

theres no job in greece


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## Crownsteler (Aug 20, 2003)

doc7austin said:


> I am not buying this argument. Most of the refugees, who are transiting Macedonia, have passed Greece.
> Greece is an EU member. There is also no ISIS terror there.


Can you really blame them for not wanting to stay in Greece? I mean, I generally hate migrants who try to make a run for north/western Europe, but in the case of Greece I can hardly blame them.



Skopje/Скопје;126424710 said:


> Migrants waiting for new train. Trash everywhere. Nobody is cleaning.


I just hate this. Shows that these people have completely no regard for the country they are in. It is simply something to use to move on. **** that.


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## Theijs (Aug 15, 2012)

NordikNerd said:


> Interesting. I wonder if all of them payed for the tickets, or maybe some of them tried to travel for free, but where thrown off.


Once registered at the MK authorities they have the right to transit the country in 72 hours and use for free the train to Skopje (to request asylum) or to travel to the Serbian border. There is a daily 'elektrichka' at 10:00 from Gevgelija to Tabanovce, with a stop at Skopje.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

^^ The train is not for free  They pay 10 Euros for one way ticket (Gevgelija-Tabanovce). This morning I was reading in the newspapers that many migrants started to use bus lines from Gevgelija to Skopje (11 Euros), and then use taxi to get the Macedonian-Serbian border (additional 25 Euros per person).


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## NordikNerd (Feb 5, 2011)

Skopje/Скопје;126449951 said:


> ^^ The train is not for free  They pay 10 Euros for one way ticket (Gevgelija-Tabanovce). This morning I was reading in the newspapers that many migrants started to use bus lines from Gevgelija to Skopje (11 Euros), and then use taxi to get the Macedonian-Serbian border (additional 25 Euros per person).


I dont think the migrants queued at Gevgelia station booking office to buy tickets before they stormed the train. Is it possible to buy tickets directly from the conductor ? 

The blue train in the photos looks like a commuter train (elektritcka) but what is the red train? 

I presume that the blue commuter train is easy to ride for free without beeing caught, but the red train looks like an express train which must have a conductor.


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## Baron Hirsch (Jan 31, 2009)

Yes, apparently the MZ increased ticket prices on the trains to 10 Euro recently. The red express train is most likely the Hellas Express from Thessaloniki to Beograd with through coach to Budapest. To my understanding, the refugees must leave the train before the Serbian border and find an informal way to cross it. The old blue elektrichkas (or some of them) are additional trains introduced by MZ since the refugee crisis.


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## Crownsteler (Aug 20, 2003)

Skopje/Скопје;126449951 said:


> ^^ The train is not for free  They pay 10 Euros for one way ticket (Gevgelija-Tabanovce). This morning I was reading in the newspapers that many migrants started to use bus lines from Gevgelija to Skopje (11 Euros), and then use taxi to get the Macedonian-Serbian border (additional 25 Euros per person).


The flow of migrants can actually be quite the economic boon to transit countries. Just for the end of line countries they are not.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

*Latest news *

The government engaged the military in order to help with the increased flow of migrants coming from Greece. The border is closed, they cannot pass trough anymore. 

*Macedonia declares state of emergency over surge in migrants & refugees, ready to deploy army*
http://www.rt.com/news/312935-macedonia-emergency-migrants-crisis/


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## NordikNerd (Feb 5, 2011)

Skopje/Скопје;126458927 said:


> *Latest news *
> 
> The government engaged the military in order to help with the increased flow of migrants coming from Greece. The border is closed, they cannot pass trough anymore.
> 
> ...












It seems like they closed a major corridor for migrants then. The makedonian-serbian route to Hungary and the EU.

So how can't they pass through ? Do you have a wall or electric fence along the greek-makedonian border? If the migrants are able to sneak into trucks and trains in Calais so they can reach their dream destination UK, they could also find a way through Macedonia, but the big masses of migrants will not make it into the EU through the Balkans anymore which is a progress.


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## Baron Hirsch (Jan 31, 2009)

Nerd, please spare us your idea of progress. If you ask me and several others here, it was progress that refugees can make it to countries whose economies can both support and make use of refugees by this rather safe route compared to the horrible disasters that have become common when traveling over the high seas. The rush of the last few weeks has been in part caused by Hungary's announcement that it would build a wall and so people have tried to rush through before its completion. Rather than military, the Macedonian government could have sent some garbage trucks to Gevgelija, provide some makeshift housing, and organize better transport. But no, call in the military, create panic so Macedonians get distracted from the fact that they were just about to kick their government out of office. We have seen it all before, let us hope Gruevski does not get away with it.


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## KøbenhavnK (Feb 3, 2014)

WOW!

Those pictures look like The Third World heading North- which is the case 

I find it hard to accept people claiming European "moral obligations" to recieve these people when all of the rich Gulf States have only recieved a grand combined total of 1500 of their "Syrian brothers".


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## CrazySerb (Aug 22, 2007)

I say, come one, come all. In Serbia, you will find a free hot meal, a map and one way ticket to Europe...of which we don't want any part of


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## aleksandar_s (Jul 17, 2011)

^^ As long as they don't stay. The Balkans have enough troubles without this burden.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

The photo is from 5th of August. You can see some of the reconstruction works that are being done on the Skopje central train station.

u8 by Dannys-Reisen, on Flickr


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## tkautzor (Mar 11, 2010)

aleksandar_s said:


> ^^ As long as they don't stay. The Balkans have enough troubles without this burden.


Looks like this is the "solution" the EU has now found, they will pay non-EU countries like Serbija, Makedonia, Turkey and Tunisia to keep the refugees/migrants there in camps.

Currently, almost half the asylum seekers in Germany are from the Balkans (Kosovo, Serbia, Albania, Macedonia and Bosnia), taking away much needed resources from the real refugees.


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## Baron Hirsch (Jan 31, 2009)

Tkauzor, you are off your rocker. The debate about refugees from Kosovo etc. is merely intended as a distraction from the fact that German and other North European countries were caught totally unprepared for what is happening this summer. There was a wave of emigration from [email protected] last winter, but that has long since died down. At present, refugees on the Balkan route are 80% from Syria, second is Afghanistan, then Iraq: all countries where no-one can pretend that life is wonderful there (if you want to pretend that for the Balkans, go ahead). 
Anyways, this is a railway forum, not "write whatever I want about world politics" forum. Please get back on topic, everyone.


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## jyvation (Aug 6, 2014)

*railway station Ovce Pole*


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## Baron Hirsch (Jan 31, 2009)

Thanks for the pic. I guess there is only one train per day on this route, and seeing as it takes two hours from Veles to Kocani, I guess it is not very popular. Any chance of this route receiving some modernization, extension, or is it rather a candidate for closing down?


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Only the route trough the so called "Corridor 10" will be modernized (reconstruction of the railroad, of the train stations etc.), while the other routes in Macedonia will wait some better times, unfortunately. 

The Corridor 10 connects Greece - via Macedonia - with Serbia and the rest of EU countries. For us also important is the Corridor 8 (Bulgaria-Macedonia-Albania), but so far nothing special happened. Only some statements for the importance of this corridor by the politicians and some small works on the ground. 

Unfortunately, the station Ovce Pole (and many more stations on this route) are not part of the Corridor 8, so I don't believe that they will be reconstructed in near future. The same goes for the modernization of the railroad on this route.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Luckily, one of the train stations that are going to be reconstructed/renewed is the one in Gevgelija. Today it looks terrible.










photo by Mundo33


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Skopje train depot (not in the best condition, as you can see)

Skopje train depot (Macedonia),2014. by ikehpc, on Flickr

Skopje train depot (Macedonia),2014. by ikehpc, on Flickr

Skopje train depot (Macedonia),2014. by ikehpc, on Flickr

Hpc - Skopje regional train (Macedonia),2014. by ikehpc, on Flickr


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Few my photos...

DSC07252 by george k. 1981, on Flickr

DSC07253 by george k. 1981, on Flickr

DSC07258 by george k. 1981, on Flickr

DSC07254 by george k. 1981, on Flickr 

DSC07255 by george k. 1981, on Flickr

DSC07259 by george k. 1981, on Flickr


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

The photos are from February this year...








[/URL]DSC07257 by george k. 1981, on Flickr

DSC07260 by george k. 1981, on Flickr 

DSC07261 by george k. 1981, on Flickr

DSC07263 by george k. 1981, on Flickr

DSC07265 by george k. 1981, on Flickr


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## NordikNerd (Feb 5, 2011)

KøbenhavnK said:


> WOW!
> 
> Those pictures look like The Third World heading North- which is the case
> 
> I find it hard to accept people claiming European "moral obligations" to recieve these people when all of the rich Gulf States have only recieved a grand combined total of 1500 of their "Syrian brothers".


Yes. The 3rd world stays outside Budapest Keleti now, the police closed the railway station and didnt let them board the trains, although they had valid tickets. Somehow some of them already went by train to Breclav, Czech Rep. 
even further north so the next stop is probably Hovedbangården (!):gaah:


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## VITORIA MAN (Jan 31, 2013)

a shame


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## PiuraBoy (Sep 7, 2015)

Great to see something here of the Macedonian railways.


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## tkautzor (Mar 11, 2010)

Hi, can anyone in Macedonia tell me where the narrow gauge steam loco and train which used to be on display in a Skopje park (the park where the Pioneer Railway operated from 1948 to 1959) is now. There pictures of this train at:
http://www.heeresfeldbahn.de/lokomotiven/deutschland/brigadelok/228.html
http://www.hfwagen.de/heeresfeldbahnwagen/hf_wk1_oo_skopje.htm

Best regards, Thomas.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

The train now is exposed as exhibition in a park in the Gjroche Petrov district in Skopje.

On the link you can find some of my photos of the train. They are from 2014. (Check the previous page of the flickr account, there are also other photos of this train)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/page33


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## tkautzor (Mar 11, 2010)

Thank you so much for your help, Skopje.

Maybe you could answer some more of my questions:

- Do you know if 83-064 is still on display outside the railway training school near Lisice Depot?
http://www.internationalsteam.co.uk/trains/macedonia01.htm (bottom)

- Is it possible to obtain a permit to visit Lisice Depot to see the steam locos there (33-090 restored for film and dumped 62-112) and from whom?

- Do you know if 01-046 is still dumped at Veles Depot?

- Does the Skopje oil refinery still operate and does it still use fireless loco LBV-005?

Best regards, Thomas.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

tkautzor said:


> Thank you so much for your help, Skopje.
> 
> Maybe you could answer some more of my questions:
> 
> ...


Yes, it's still there. I saw it few days ago. 

I will have to ask some of my colleagues of another forum about the answers for the other questions.


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## jyvation (Aug 6, 2014)

tkautzor said:


> Thank you so much for your help, Skopje.
> 
> Maybe you could answer some more of my questions:
> 
> ...


- Do you know if 01-046 is still dumped at Veles Depot?

No the 01-046 is in Skopje.

- Does the Skopje oil refinery still operate and does it still use fireless loco LBV-005?

No.


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## t2contra (Oct 10, 2007)

Macedonia bought some high speed trains from China. Are they running? I don't see any pictures.


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## Аполон (Sep 11, 2014)

...


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

t2contra said:


> Macedonia bought some high speed trains from China. Are they running? I don't see any pictures.


Not high speed, they can develop about 160 km/h. They are on their way, we are waiting them to be shipped to us


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

*MŽ 661 234, Tetovo, 19-06-15 *

661 234 calls at Tetovo on the 16.50 Skopje-Kicevo.

MŽ 661 234, Tetovo, 19-06-15 by afc45014, on Flickr


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

MŽ 661 236, Skopje, 19-06-15 by afc45014, on Flickr

MŽ 661 223, Skopje, 22-06-15 by afc45014, on Flickr


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## tkautzor (Mar 11, 2010)

Skopje/Скопје;127098595 said:


> Not high speed, they can develop about 160 km/h. They are on their way, we are waiting them to be shipped to us


Apparently one of the new Chinese EMUs has already arrived at Skopje-Lisice Depot, according to someone who visited 3 days ago.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

^^ Any photos to prove that?


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## tkautzor (Mar 11, 2010)

No photos, the person didn't take any, but was shown around by the workshops manager and wrote "Der neue E-Triebwagen aus China stand schön geschützt vor Schmutzfinken in der Werkstatt. " (the new E-railcar from China stood well-protected in the Workshops).

http://www.drehscheibe-online.de/foren/read.php?30,7556052,7556378#msg-7556378


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Few photos of the reconstruction process of the Skopje's train station...






















































































































source: http://www.mkd.mk/makedonija/skopje/privrshuva-renoviranjeto-na-skopskata-zheleznichka-stanica-fotogalerija#13


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## Theijs (Aug 15, 2012)

Skopje/Скопје;127322096 said:


> Few photos of the reconstruction process of the Skopje's train station...


nice improvement. I wish they will replace a part of the roof structure with glass, to have more day light at the platforms.


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## jyvation (Aug 6, 2014)

Theijs said:


> nice improvement. I wish they will replace a part of the roof structure with glass, to have more day light at the platforms.


I am afraid that the only thing that will not replace is the panels of the roof hno:


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## jyvation (Aug 6, 2014)

Another photo session 

1.









2.









3.









4.









5.









6.









7.









8.









9.









10.









11.









12.









13.









14.









15.









16.









source: http://www.build.mk/?p=46390


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## jyvation (Aug 6, 2014)

Video from the railwaystation.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

^^ The first 30 seconds are informative, the rest is some dude talking into foreign language for most of the forumers here


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## Baron Hirsch (Jan 31, 2009)

Great, hardly recognize the old station (at least on the interior photos). I read that all Macedonian trains operating on side lines have been cancelled as the rolling stock is needed for refugee transit on the main Gevgelija-Sturovo line. Is that correct?


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## челленджер (Aug 28, 2015)

nice foto


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Baron Hirsch said:


> Great, hardly recognize the old station (at least on the interior photos). I read that all Macedonian trains operating on side lines have been cancelled as the rolling stock is needed for refugee transit on the main Gevgelija-Sturovo line. Is that correct?


I really don't know. But I don't believe that the all of the trains would be canceled just for the migrants. Maybe something else is in question. But I can't find any information about that.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

The video is from June this year...

*Skopje valley, Skopje railway station to Smesnica halt, part of Corridor X
*


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

The longest train composition in Macedonia - 21 cars, or 530 meters in length


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## Theijs (Aug 15, 2012)

Skopje/Скопје;127743513 said:


> The longest train composition in Macedonia - 21 cars, or 530 meters in length


It's a movie posted in 2014. On what occasion this long train drove?


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

^^ I have no idea.

__________________________


SILIKA factory's DL100 (JW100), in the city of Gostivar

DL100 (JW100) of SILIKA by D LV, on Flickr


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Apparently, the first of the ten new trains for the Macedonian railways, at unloading at the port of Thessaloniki. A total of four diesel and six electric passenger trains with a capacity of 200 people and a speed of 160 km/h will be delivered. They are manufactured in China, and the total cost is 25 million euros.










bigger photo

source


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

OK, and officially the new trains arrived in Skopje. There is still no information about that in the media, except some articles with the basic info about the trains (capacity, speed etc.), but not about the number of the arrived trains or the lines they will operate. 

Anyway, good news for Macedonia. 










source


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## jyvation (Aug 6, 2014)




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## Junkie (Oct 5, 2007)

The thing is: 
We do not need any new trains. At least not now. We need infrastructure. Some of the rails are as old as 50 to 80 years while the train stations around the country are true horrors and no one is using them. 
At this point of time I would use some of these machines for a new line from the central railway station to the capital airport.


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## jyvation (Aug 6, 2014)

Some photos..
































































more photos: http://republika.mk/?p=503467


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

^^ Better photos


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## jyvation (Aug 6, 2014)

source: http://www.telegraf.mk/aktuelno/makedonija/318316-moderna-i-renovirana-zeleznickata-stanica-gotova-do-nova-godina-foto


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## Junkie (Oct 5, 2007)

As a discussion forum as SSC is, first of all we need to make more talks on a threads like this, since all of this pictures are useless if people are not familiar with the railway infrastructure in the country. 
Its more than a horror and we need the very BASIC re/construction to start, which in fact will worth millions to start repairing something. Other than that this trains are useless.


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## jyvation (Aug 6, 2014)

Final preparations of EMU.




































































































source: http://www.telegraf.mk/aktuelno/ekonomija/318782-pogled-odnatre-finalni-podgotovki-na-noviot-makedonski-voz-videofoto


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## jyvation (Aug 6, 2014)




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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Junkie said:


> As a discussion forum as SSC is, first of all we need to make more talks on a threads like this, since all of this pictures are useless if people are not familiar with the railway infrastructure in the country.
> Its more than a horror and we need the very BASIC re/construction to start, which in fact will worth millions to start repairing something. Other than that this trains are useless.


Well, just look at the condition of the depot where the new train is being prepared for use - it's awful. We should start from there - reconstruction of the basic infrastructure.


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## Junkie (Oct 5, 2007)

Skopje/Скопје;128331203 said:


> Well, just look at the condition of the depot where the new train is being prepared for use - it's awful. We should start from there - reconstruction of the basic infrastructure.


I agree, and I often put the example-parallel for the road infrastructure. You cannot reduce the accidents in our country if you don't invest in the infrastructure. Fast cars and rising cost of living needs better and high level road infrastructure. 
It's the same with the railway network. We are a very small country which can become very developed if there is an action plan for the next decade and it should start from the very small and basic things and the projects will evolve over time. Speaking about national investments.


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## jyvation (Aug 6, 2014)




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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

The reconstruction of the train station in the city of Prilep is almost finished. I believe that the reconstruction of the interior is left for the end.


















































































source


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Photo from the history of the Macedonian railroads - the morning train from Presek, with Feldbahn, at the end of its four and a half hour trip, approaching Ohrid. Spring 1965. (Line closed 1966.)










photo by John Phillips


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Reconstruction of the train station in Gradsko. Gradsko is located in the central part of Macedonia, on the railroad Skopje-Gevgelija-Thessaloniki (Greece). 










source


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## drezdinski (Apr 19, 2013)

Any pics of the new train sets in service?


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

^^

I found video of the test drive...


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Few photos of the new trains. BTW, the fourth new train arrived from China yesterday. We expect two more. 

_At the train station Veles_










_At the train station Bogomila_










_At the train station Prilep_










photo source


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

*Six train stations were reconstructed on the Corridor 10*

The reconstruction of the train stations on the Corridor 10 is almost finished. The stations in Veles, Prilep, Gradsko, Demir Kapija, Negotino and Tabanovce were reconstructed and now only the interiors need to be renewed. 

This year will be reconstructed four other stations - in Bitola, Chashka, Bogomila and Gevgelija. The project is implemented with the support of the EU funds. 


















































































http://kurir.mk/makedonija/vesti/foto-pred-i-potoa-rekonstuirani-zheleznichkite-stanitsi-na-koridorot-10/


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## jyvation (Aug 6, 2014)




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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

After long time, finally some reconstruction works on the train station in the city of Bitola (the second largest city in Macedonia). Photos by Могли




























The platform (awful choise of material - behaton)


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## Theijs (Aug 15, 2012)

In fact the railway track is being reconstructed from Bitola to Kremenica and beyond the border with Greece towards Florina: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XypxBAAN_wY


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Few rare historical photos of the narrow gauge line Gostivar-Ohrid (the line was closed in 1966). These photos are from 1965.



















The train station in Ohrid










Photos by John Phillips


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Some of the reconstructed train stations so far...

*Chashka*










*Gradsko*










*Bitola*




























*Negotino*










*Bogomila*










source


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## dimlys1994 (Dec 19, 2010)

From Railway Gazette:



> http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/...ew/loko-trans-to-develop-skopje-rail-hub.html
> 
> *Loko Trans to develop Skopje rail hub*
> 24 Nov 2016
> ...


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## TUR_ (May 20, 2011)

There are five trains between Skopje and Bitola 541 641 643 543 645. Maybe somebody knows which one is operating as traditional train: diesel locomotive with wagons?﻿


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

The reconstructed station in the city of Veles. 

photos source


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

photos source


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

The reconstructed station in the city of Bitola. The station was built in the late 19th century as part of the line Bitola - Thessaloniki, to connect the two biggest cities in the European part of the Ottoman Empire.




























photos source


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## Baron Hirsch (Jan 31, 2009)

Well, you forget that Istanbul / Konstantinoupolis / Carigrad is also in Europe, so Bitola / Monastir moves down to no. 3....

Anyways, it will be great if trains will once again run from Thessaloniki / Solun / Salonico /Selanik up to Bitola. I will definitely take it. It will also be a great sign against the trend to close up borders and hate the rest of the world, which ironically is a global trend right now.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

The last (of the six in total) new train arrived in Macedonia. Photos by mia.mk


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

The reconstructed station in the village of Gradsko, in the central part of the country

Градско / Gradsko by george k. 1981, on Flickr

Градско / Gradsko by george k. 1981, on Flickr

The railroad near the archaeological site Stobi (Stobi is located very close to Gradsko)

Стоби / Stobi by george k. 1981, on Flickr


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Good news, everyone! 












> *The EU Will Finance the Construction of the Macedonia-Bulgaria Railway Line*
> 
> The European Union will finance the construction of the Corridor 8 railway line, which should connect the Black Sea with the Adriatic Sea and pass through the territory of the Republic of Macedonia. This is what EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn told Deutsche Welle.
> 
> ...


http://www.novinite.com/articles/181168/The+EU+Will+Finance+the+Construction+of+the+Macedonia-Bulgaria+Railway+Line


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

The reconstructed train station in Bitola

Bitola by Chang Ju Wu, on Flickr

Bitola by Chang Ju Wu, on Flickr

Bitola by Chang Ju Wu, on Flickr

Bitola by Chang Ju Wu, on Flickr


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## Junkie (Oct 5, 2007)

All photos posted by the user above have no permission and violate the copyright issues on this forum.
The user @Skopje/Скопје represent no one here, he is not official and has been violating copyrights for a long time. I advice all users to take caution when communicating with the user above.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

^^

Dear lord, you really need some professional help.


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## Zaz965 (Jan 24, 2015)

Junkie, but Skopje credited properly the photos, what are you talking about? :dunno:

is he a trollish supervisor? :troll:


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## Baron Hirsch (Jan 31, 2009)

Skopje/Скопје;141220304 said:


> Good news, everyone!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Let's get back on topic. I wish to think this is good news, but Corridor VIII has been in and out of official statements since the 1990s. What makes this announcement different from previous ones? Also, the sorry state of railways in Albania makes one wonder if rail operations on that of the line would ever happen.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

^^

For us is really important to connect with Bulgaria, because in the moment most of the Macedonian import of goods comes from the Thessaloniki port, but in the recent years there are strikes and protests all the time and the trade suffers a lot of damage. The Burgas port would be some alternative, and the Dures port would be also an alternative in near future. Also, the railroad connection between Macedonia and Bulgaria would increase the trade between these two countries.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Few more photos from the Bitola-Kremenica project...

_This is the link to the facebook page of the project_

^^



















Access road to the transfer station



















The transfer station


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

https://mia.mk/2018/12/ebrd-partners-with-eu-for-macedonian-railway-corridor-viii/?lang=enhttp://


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## Baron Hirsch (Jan 31, 2009)

If for every article written in the past 25 years about corridor VIII, the journalists and the holders of press conferences had been obliged to take a shovel and do half an hour of digging, we would long ago have started taking trains from Sofia to Durres.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

According the statement of the Minister for Transport and Communications, about 40% of the ground works on the Kumanovo-Beljakovce section (part of the Corridor VIII towards Bulgaria) are finished. Some photos from few days ago:

Посета на работните активности на пругата во Куманово [02.03.2019] by Влада на Република Северна Македонија, on Flickr

Посета на работните активности на пругата во Куманово [02.03.2019] by Влада на Република Северна Македонија, on Flickr

Посета на работните активности на пругата во Куманово [02.03.2019] by Влада на Република Северна Македонија, on Flickr

Посета на работните активности на пругата во Куманово [02.03.2019] by Влада на Република Северна Македонија, on Flickr


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Testing the Bitola-Kremenica reconstructed railroad (this is the connection between N. Macedonia and Greece)


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

New electric locomotive (in total there should be 4 new ones for the domestic railroad company)

An electric locomotive with number 443-002 of MZ (Makedonske Zeleznice / Railways of Republic of North Macedonia) standing near central railway station Plovdiv. by Veselin Malinov, on Flickr

An electric locomotive with number 443-002 of MZ (Makedonske Zeleznice / Railways of Republic of North Macedonia) standing near central railway station Plovdiv. by Veselin Malinov, on Flickr

An electric locomotive with number 443-002 of MZ (Makedonske Zeleznice / Railways of Republic of North Macedonia) standing near central railway station Plovdiv. by Veselin Malinov, on Flickr

An electric locomotive with number 443-002 of MZ (Makedonske Zeleznice / Railways of Republic of North Macedonia) standing near central railway station Plovdiv. by Veselin Malinov, on Flickr

A logo of MZ onto electric locomotive with number 443-002 of MZ (Makedonske Zeleznice / Railways of Republic of North Macedonia) standing near central railway station Plovdiv. by Veselin Malinov, on Flickr

A rebuilder plate onto electric locomotive with number 443-002 of MZ (Makedonske Zeleznice / Railways of Republic of North Macedonia) standing near central railway station Plovdiv. by Veselin Malinov, on Flickr

A boogies of electric locomotive with number 443-002 of MZ (Makedonske Zeleznice / Railways of Republic of North Macedonia) standing near central railway station Plovdiv. by Veselin Malinov, on Flickr

An electric locomotive with number 443-002 of MZ (Makedonske Zeleznice / Railways of Republic of North Macedonia) standing near central railway station Plovdiv. by Veselin Malinov, on Flickr


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## eu01 (Oct 14, 2005)

Skopje/Скопје;158339378 said:


> Testing the Bitola-Kremenica reconstructed railroad


Last Monday I've "tested" this line, but only through the window of a charter bus en route to Greece. Looked nice, but I guess every new line looks that way. Are there any realistic plans to start the passenger traffic from Skopje or Bitola to Florina?


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Yes, but still the main accent is put to the transport of goods, because is faster to get to Greece by the highway.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Skopje/Скопје;158406702 said:


> New electric locomotive (in total there should be 4 new ones for the domestic railroad company)


Okay, the other three are on the way to Macedonia (currently are in Turkey):

MZ 443-001, 443-003, 443-004


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## lechevallierpatrick (Nov 22, 2012)

Skopje/Скопје;165238100 said:


> Okay, the other three are on the way to Macedonia (currently are in Turkey):
> 
> MZ 443-001, 443-003, 443-004


You say new electric locomotives,but I can't see the pantographs...


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

^^

They will be added later, I guess.


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## davide84 (Jun 8, 2008)

The UIC number starts with 91: 9 means locomotive, 1 stands for electric. Diesel would be 92.

I had the same doubt, but apparently they just did an amazing job hiding the pantographs when in rest position 🙂


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

This photo is from 3rd of January, 2020.

News for Macedonian Railways by Krassen Panev, on Flickr

And these (mine) photos are from few days ago, this is one of the customs terminals in Skopje:


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

The new electric locomotives in use...

MŽT 443 003, Miladinovtsi, North Macedonia by toma.bacic, on Flickr

MŽT 443 003, Miladinovtsi, North Macedonia by toma.bacic, on Flickr

...

MŽT 443 004, Negotino, North Macedonia by toma.bacic, on Flickr


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## Manos-GR (Apr 9, 2020)

Romanovce (Skopje-Kumanovo route)


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## Manos-GR (Apr 9, 2020)

In Gevgelija station


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## Manos-GR (Apr 9, 2020)

Trubarevo (Skopje)


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## Theijs (Aug 15, 2012)

Less nice news coming from Macadonia, regarding the line Kumanovo - Beljakovce - Kriva Palanka towards the Bulgarian border.
The German contractor Vibe halted the works after 54% and over 3 years delay.

Probably a new tender to finish the work needs to be prepared by the government to find a new constructor.

Source: Прекина изградбата на пругата Куманово-Бељаковце, ќе има тендер за нов изведувач | Meta.mk


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## TedStriker (May 18, 2009)

Hi all. Does anyone here know if the hump and retarders of the marshalling yard in Skopje are still in operation please?


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## Theijs (Aug 15, 2012)

Regarding the marshalling yard: you can approach the people in this article to obtain an answer: North Macedonia has a rich railway heritage, but it has no museum nor interest to preserve it (GALLERY) | Meta.mk


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## Theijs (Aug 15, 2012)

It seems that the new government has started to pickup the topic of Pan-European Corridor VIII by starting to look for ways to finance the railway sections Kicevo - Struga and Struga - border with Albania. Source: Centar.mk


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## GeneratorNL (Jun 16, 2007)

That's great news. I was in Macedonia and Albania last year and I remember traveling around was slow and uncomfortable on buses that had to drive along winding roads. A nice train network will surely make travelling in these countries more appealing.


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## Theijs (Aug 15, 2012)

More info on Corridor VIII: North Macedonia approves line towards the Albanian border


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## Baron Hirsch (Jan 31, 2009)

This is a bit of a hoax. To my knowledge, it has been ages since trains on the Albanian side have operated until Pogradec near the Macedonian border. Unfortunately, the Albanian government has let its railways decay, while investing massively into highways. So the Macedonian government has woken up to developing Corridor VIII just when the Albanian section has become completely unviable. But who cares, it would not be the first time in Europe or Macedonia that infrastructure construction is approached completely without considering operations, the main thing is some construction companies get lots of bucks. And anyways, it will be nice to go to Struga by train...


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## Theijs (Aug 15, 2012)

Earlier this year, in April 2020, an article about railways in Macedonia was published in Railway Gazette.

Policymakers in North Macedonia are fostering enhanced links to neighbouring countries, while investment in Chinese rolling stock is improving the quality of local passenger and freight services. Žrsmt Director-General *Orhan Murtezani* and Fleet Director *Petar Batalakov* explain the national operator’s priorities to *Toma Bačić*. 
-​Test running is now underway on the newly refurbished railway between Bitola and Kremenica in the southwestern corner of North Macedonia. Once this short but significant border link reopens to revenue traffic for the first time since the 1990s, it will create a second rail corridor between the landlocked country and Greece, marking the latest step in a programme of investment intended to restore links between Skopje and neighbouring countries, in line with wider pan-European policy objectives.

Renewal of track and structures on the 16 km line were completed in April last year under a €20m scheme which began in 2014. Lead contractor was Strabag Rail Deutschland, which has built stations at Zhabeni and Kravari, modernised 10 level crossings with barriers and warning systems, and replaced six bridges.

Supported by EU grant support worth €6m, national infrastructure manager MŽI signed contracts with Slovenian company Iskra in late 2017 to provide new signalling equipment along the line, including interlockings, level crossing controls and telecoms.

Built in the 1890s, the route has been approved for 100 km/h operation with 22·5 tonne axleloads, although it will remain unelectrified for the time being, and mostly single track. Nevertheless, it will provide a rail link between the Pelagonija region and Greece for the first time in 30 years.

*North-south spine*
Rail traffic on North Macedonia’s 699 route-km network is heavily concentrated on the north-south corridor linking Tabanovci on the Serbian border with Gevgelija on the Greek frontier; this 213 km route is the only electrified main line in the country, energised at 25 kV 50 Hz, although local routes and freight cut-offs around the capital Skopje are also wired.

As part of a reform programme which concluded in 2007, the former state railway Makedonski Železnici was split in two through the creation of MŽI (infrastructure manager) and MŽT (passenger and freight operator). Since June 2018, when the country was formally renamed North Macedonia, the operating business has been known as Žrsmt.

This reform is as far as the country has got in terms of meeting EU directives on railway regulation, although according to Žrsmt Director-General Orhan Murtezani, more liberalisation will only happen if the country makes progress with its plans to join the EU. Local media anticipate that further talks could take place later this year.

*More international links*
As well as improving rail access to Greece, in recent years the North Macedonian government has also committed to fostering better links with both Bulgaria and Albania. To this end, a line between Kumanovo and the Bulgarian border at Deve Bair/ Gueshevo is being taken forward in three stages, totalling 88·3 km.

The route has significant strategic value, forming part of pan-European corridor VIII which connects the Albanian ports of Durrës and Vlore on the Adriatic Sea with North Macedonia and the Bulgarian ports of Burgas and Varna. However, only part of the corridor is operational, and both cross-border sections are missing.

This €283m programme is being partly funded through a €46m loan from EBRD agreed in August 2012; most of this has been used to complete civil works on the first section between Kumanovo and Beljakovtse (31 km), where trains last ran in 1994.

Rehabilitation work on this initial section included track renewal, station refurbishment, replacement of 17 level crossings with bridges or underpasses, and the construction of a new bridge over the Pčinja river upstream of the original structure. Lead contractor HF Wiebe completed the work under a €39·8m contract; in 2015, Wiebe subcontracted MerMec to design, supply and commission signalling and telecoms equipment on the upgraded line.

The remaining two sections of the line both require new construction, but the transport ministry in Skopje is aiming to complete the line by the end of 2022. Work on the Beljakovtse – Kriva Palanka section is due to start later this year, requiring excavation of 15 tunnels. In December 2018, EBRD agreed a €68·6m loan with MŽI under the Western Balkans Investment Framework to support this phase of the project.

*Albania next*
In the medium term, North Macedonia also plans to complete its share of the western part of Corridor VIII, which would see the creation of a rail link to Albania. Initially, a 63 km route between Kichevo and Ohrid is planned for completion by 2030. In autumn 2017, Transport Minister Goran Sugareski suggested that the cost would be around €500m, adding that some preliminary design work had already been completed.

From Ohrid, a further 17 km would need to be built via Radozhda to the Albanian border at Lin. Further capacity enhancement of the railway between Kichevo and Skopje is also to be delivered within the Corridor VIII programme.

*Rolling stock spend*
Over the past few years, North Macedonia has embarked on a steady stream of rolling stock procurement, which has been notable for the decision to buy vehicles from China’s CRRC.

In autumn 2013, MŽT called tenders for the supply of four diesel and two electric multiple-units worth €25m, funded through a loan from EBRD. The order was placed with the then China South business on June 24 2014, and the first EMU was unveiled by CRRC on July 7 2015. It was delivered to North Macedonia in October 2015 and entered revenue traffic between Skopje and Veles the following month.

The four DMUs were delivered to North Macedonia in early 2016 and are now used on the routes from Skopje to Kochani, Kichevo and Bitola. Both types have capacity for 200 passengers and represent the first new passenger trains to be acquired since the country gained independence from the former Yugoslavia in September 1991.

In 2015, the government announced plans to buy a further batch of passenger trains, although this has been held up by political factors — Murtezani suggested that Žrsmt could resume negotiations with the government over additional procurement after parliamentary elections this month.

On the freight side, MŽT awarded CRRC Zhuzhou an €8m contract in January 2017 to supply four four-axle electric locomotives. Petar Batalakov, Žrsmt Director of Traction & Rolling Stock, explains that a core objective of the operator was to source locos able to haul trailing loads of at least 1 600 tonnes over the 1·7% gradient between Kumanovo and Romanovtse on the Tabanovci – Gevgelija main line. By contrast, MŽT’s legacy fleet of Electroputere six-axle electric locos are only able to haul 1 300 tonnes over this route.

The first of the 4·8 MW, 120 km/h, TSI-compliant CRRC locomotives arrived in May 2019 for commissioning trials, and the other three were delivered in January. All four have been in revenue earning traffic since February.

*International ambitions*
At the time of writing, the only international passenger train serving the country throughout the year is a Priština – Skopje service, and as recently as last month this was suspended because of a shortage of motive power; it was reintroduced on March 9.

According to Murtezani, Žrsmt is keen to develop more cross-border services, but these ambitions face a number of problems. The most significant is the impact of major route upgrading work in Serbia; this is due to start in June affecting the main line between Niš and Brestovac.

This route is used by a seasonal daily return train linking Beograd with Skopje and Thessaloniki, which ordinarily runs only between mid-June and mid-September. Murtezani is hopeful that after the Serbian blockades are completed this service could be developed further, while he is also keen to explore the potential for a Skopje – Thessaloniki – Pythio/Uzunköprü – Istanbul service, which would be run in partnership with TCDD Taşımacılık and Trainose.


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## The Wild Boy (Apr 5, 2020)

Electric Locomotive arriving at Skopje Railway station. 

You can see the parts that were renovated, and the parts that weren't. 

Saddly, this station is in a dire need of a full renovation. 

The big problem here is rain. When it's training water drips down from the holes of the Railway Station, and the broken pipes. In Winter water also freezes, and it makes things even worse. 

There's a lot of holes, because the railway station was planned to be bigger, but because it never got fully finished those "holes" were just covered with metal sheets. 

Now I'm not going to directly blame Socialist Yugoslavia, and the local government in Skopje at that time. Kenzo Tange and it's buddies had clear plans to make a more modern Skopje, but many of the plans were not fulfilled mainly because funds were not secured. Yugoslavia at those times had finished an underground Airport and Tito's Bunker, so they spent a lot of money on those projects that did not pay off at all. 

Tito died several years after the bunker was opened, and he never really used it. 


Btw, here's a video of a show from 1982 when there apparently was an OIL crisis, and most of the population in Skopje switched over to using public transport. It became a mess, as busses quickly became overcrowded. 

The authorities at that time even considered putting urban railway lines into service and building new ones, but that didn't happen... 

Here's the video:





You can clearly see the lines they had planed back then. 



And another interesting thing:








This is the more modern plan 










And you know well who this person is. 
Yes, that's our current minister of transport. 
This picture was taken few months before the 2016 elections to which he said that Skopje was in a dire need of an urban railway network. Almost 6 years later, and we have nothing... Social Democracy at it's finest. 


One day hopefully, our railway will have to develop, when Greece and Serbia do their part (I'll explain more on this some time later).


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## The Wild Boy (Apr 5, 2020)

Today Vucic had a press regarding the fast railway from Belgrade to my country.

He stated that the fast railway towards my country and Bulgaria got financial EU support.

This is great news.

But I'd like to have some words on this.

First of all as i have said many times, there isn't going to be a high speed railway from Belgrade (or from Budapest) to my country. Nor from Budapest to Sofia, neither from Budapest to Istanbul.

Fast railway yes, but high speed railway, no. Those are 2 different things.

Fast railway according to worldwide standards and my standards can be railway up to and 250 km/h.

Anything over 250 km/h, say 280 km/h or 300 km/h is considered high speed railway. 160, 200, anything less than 250 km/h *is not high speed railway line. *

Regarding my country, this should just put our brainless monkey politicians to shame for not doing absolutely anything these 25 - 30 years since we're independent. We are struggling to finish the railway corridor 8, and at the same time we are ruled by politicians who only care about self interest, power, money and nothing else. *The situation in my country is bad, really bad. *We have a lot of problems in our railway system.

First of all, trains. We have plenty of trains, i don't know exactly how much in number but we have many. Some in operation, some scrapped and broken sitting in the dust in our depots. We don't have qualified personnel to repair and maintain them (as most of the smart and intelligent workers have fled the country), and our railway enterprises (companies) don't have enough money (because they are in big debts...) to have the trains repaired by other countries, factories (like how Bulgaria did with one of it's trainsets).

Those trains that are used are in relatively bad condition ( except the new Chinese units), and combine that with the bad condition of the railway tracks = slow railway infrastructure. That's just enough to give you a clear view of how bad the situation in my country is. It's really bad.

Moving on to our railway tracks, and the railway infrastructure in general.

We have 925 km of railway tracks, out of which *only 3**15 km is electrified.*

Corridor 10 is the most electrified corridor spanning across the country from North to South, and connecting with Serbia and Greece, which are 2 important countries when it comes for tourism, cargo and transit traffic. 

Corridor 10 is also our busiest and most used railway corridor. It's pretty much the gate towards Central / Western Europe, spanning from Thessaloniki all the way to Budapest. So corridor 10 is of a huge importance. 

And so is corridor 8.

The other electrified railway lines are mainly around Skopje, and that's pretty much it.
The rest of the railway, such as the one towards Bitola, Kičevo and Kočani is all non - electrified railway, and there are no plans to electrify any of those lines. 

Most of our railway tracks have not been replaced since Socialist Yugoslavia, and only some stretches have been renovated. Because most of our railway tracks have not been replaced it's a risk and it's dangerous to run trains at faster speeds, hence why we nowadays have slower trains than in Socialist Yugoslavia (and of course the poor maintenance of those trains plays a key factor as well), because back then they had proper maintenance of the railway infrastructure, tracks and trains. 

The only railway lines / segments that were ever reconstructed / renovated in the past 20 - 25 years were:

Reconstruction of the 14 km (8.7 mi) railway section between Kumanovo and Deljadrovci.

Reconstruction of the 35 km (22 mi) railway section between Dračevo and Veles.

Reconstruction between Gevgelija and Miravci. I sadly don't know the length of how much rail was reconstructed there.

Yup, that's it. 
Wikipedia says that another reconstruction happened at Bitola but i don't think so, given that the tracks there are in a bad shape. Maybe they made some mistake and confused that with the new railway line to the Greek border that got built there. 

Railway lines we have built post socialism:

Bitola - Kremenica.

That's it. Yup, that's all we managed to build post - socialism, for these 20 - 25 years.

And i clearly remember our politicians showing off with that newly built railway line, and saying how they invested in the railways sector, _yet _that line today has 0 trains running through it. In fact, it might not have had any train go through there at all.

So we just wasted money on nothing? I guess so.

Railway lines that we are building:

Kumanovo - Beljakovce.

We have been trying to build that cursed railway line for over 15 years. I'm not going to go deep into this. Basically this railway has been a subject to many empty promises, money laundering, corruption, stopped - then - resumed projects, changes of plan (from 160 km/h vmax downgraded to 100 km/h) and so on.... We won't finish this railway in the next 5 years given the pace they are going now...

Our railway enterprise / company Macedonian Railways (I'm going to refer to it like that, because the term Railways of North Macedonia is just longer) has also been riddled with scandals.
Money that they have been appointed have been spent on expensive Wine, Meat and what not for the needs of the greedy / corrupt directors and those close to them. Many corruption scandals have been circulating around Macedonian Railways.

Not only that, but Macedonian Railways owes a huge debt to many Banks, it's just bad. They even hired / employed people, while at the same time being riddled with huge debts...

And that's not it. The final nail in the coffin are our monkey politicians, which have no vision, no clear plans, no ideology, no strategy and only (ab) use the railways sector to suck up as much money for their needs as possible (like the directors of Macedonian Railways). There haven't been any serious fundings, there haven't been any important and serious projects started, such as the railway from Kičevo to Struga and the Albanian border, and we have been given just empty promises, and told lies. 


But the situation wasn't that bad after we dissolved from Yugoslavia.

Macedonian Railways enjoyed it's best post socialist years from 2005 to 2007 when it had the highest number of passengers post socialism. But then came VMRO and "ruined the party".
At that time, there was a dedicated enterprise / sector for maintaining the railway infrastructure. It employed over 2,000+ people, but then came Nikola Gruevski and got rid of that enterprise / sector and left 2,000+ people (which worked on maintaining the railway infrastructure) without jobs.


*The change:*

What my country needs to do to "fix" this situation and change is a lot. (I'm not an expert in this field that much, but I'll try to do my best to explain from my knowledge.)

First of all we need a completely new system. A system where we will have serious governments, which will seriously invest and care for the railway infrastructure. If we have government like these who have in the past 20 - 25 years only done more harm to our railways then we aren't moving anywhere.

Then, we need to have several private companies to run our railways, so there's competition (Liberalization).
I'm going to take Romania as an example. Many of the big companies that have failed, they have been replaced by several smaller companies which work as competitors and that way not only the customer can have choice, but there's also competition and a reason to provide cheaper prices, better trains and faster travel. Sadly our current government knows that this is the solution, but says that they will implement this when we enter the European Union, which will never happen.

After that, we will need to have back the companies that maintained the railway infrastructure and spend funds into those companies to make sure that our railway gets maintained and is in a good shape.


We have to get serious, transparent in building new railway infrastructure, try to lower corruption and speed up the process of building those new railway lines and important corridors. We can do it only if we have a serious government and serious politicians, which we sadly don't right now.


We need to step up, and invest more in our railway infrastructure. It is a great alternative to the motorways and it will have a huge impact. We need to build more railway infrastructure, because it is and will be of a huge importance for our country and for other countries near us as well.


And for the last, our current government doesn't plan any "High Speed" railway line from the border with Serbia, to the border with Greece. The best scenario is that this government could try to get out by renovating the remaining parts of corridor 10, and re - aligning the curves on the railway lines to at least allow for speeds up to 130 km/h.

The best term solution would be
Fix the broken system, then get a serious, transparent government that will seriously invest in railway infrastructure.

Build a fast railway from the Serbian Border, all the way to the border with Greece.

Tabanovce - Skopje could be easily built as a 200km/h high speed railway line, since the ground there is flat. Minus some smaller hills. No mountains and a very easy area to build on to.

There's several options, but I think that bypassing the villages (Miladinovci, Ilinden and all the other nearby villages) would be the best option, because there isn't enough space to widen (double) the existing railway there, and it also runs closer to houses ( residential areas).

Railway near Skopje could be limited to 100 - 130 km/h for already obvious reasons. There's really no need to go more. Maybe 150 km/h vmax at most, but i don't see a big need for anything faster, given that most of the trains will have to make a stop at the Skopje Railway Station. Those that bypass Skopje, well then there could be built a 150 - 200 km/h railway bypass (upgrade of the existing one), but i don't think that's really needed.

Doubling of Skopje Railway Station, all the way to Dračevo Railway Station (this too has to be done because of the commuter / urban railway).

Given that that section too goes though residential areas (but has more space), speed here could go as high as 180 km/h, without any problems.

Then from Dračevo railway station, there would have to be built a completely new Fast Railway, that will approach A1 (section Veles - Katlanovo), instead of having to go by the existing railway line to Veles, it would just run over through the hills / mountains parallel to the A1 motorway between Veles and Katlanovo.

Before Veles, it could have an interchange for the stretch to connect it to the railway line going towards Bitola, and the fast railway will most likely have to bypass Veles, because an upgrade of the existing railway network through Veles is impossible, and there's many reasons why.

Veles would have to get a completely new railway station that will be used exclusively for that new fast railway, and for freight trains.

This railway line from Dračevo to Veles can have a speed up to 200 km/h vmax.

Then from Veles all the way to Demir Kapija it will follow the existing railway route, but a lot of re - alignments of the existing railway tracks on that line, and doubling of the railway tracks will have to be done to match it up to those speeds and standards.

This section can even have speeds up to 250 km/h, since it would be the flattest section, with some hills here and there. But mostly 200 km/h would be enough.

Negotino, Gradsko and Demir Kapija railway stations will have to be upgraded and expanded to match up for the fast railway and that standard (wider platforms, more rail tracks if needed, etc...).

And then from Demir - Kapija, another stretch of new fast railway will have to run from Demir Kapija to Gevgelija, following the route of A1 motorway (Demir Kapija - Smokvica) and running parallel to it.

Given that that section will be the hardest to do, speeds here could be 160 km/h or 200 km/h.

Then upgrading the Gevgelija Railway station, doubling of existing railway tracks and re - aligning the railway tracks (if needed), and then just upgrading / doubling the railway tracks from Gevgelija to the border with Greece.

That's all it would take to have a fast railway from the Serbian to the Greek border.
I will explain more on this some time later in the future. I'll draw some proposed routes, like how i did with the road network and will explain more briefly.


But that's pretty much it. Our situation with the railways is not good, and given how we are doing it's only getting worse and worse.

All i can do is congratulate Serbia and Greece for at least moving their fingers and doing something.

Greece already has put it's 250 km/h fast railway from Athens to Thessaloniki into service (that's how i read in the build.mk forum and on several articles / correct if I'm wrong), and it also has a 160 km/h (or is constricting) new railway line from Thessaloniki to the border with my country.

Serbia, as i explained on the beginning of this long post, now has support from EU and it will eventually do it's part and finish it's most important railway projects at least in the next 15 years or so. Plus let's not forget the Belgrade - Novi Sad fast railway line. Everything is welcomed and appreciated here in the Balkans infrastructure wise, and we have to think and get serious about these important projects.

_No one else will come to build our important railway projects, if we don't do it ourselves..._


Btw to show you how bad our railways are, i have one picture that i took out from one of the local railway stations (Station Lisiče) in Skopje, which is the first railway station after the main railway station. Surprisingly the picture turned out quite nice, and it really shows the bad condition of our railways. Nature has taken over it


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## The Wild Boy (Apr 5, 2020)

Back when our railway system actually worked and was profitable:






_26.05 I'm coming_


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## kokomo (Sep 29, 2009)

@The Wild Boy Look, I know not much about the Balkans in particular, but I was raised at a poor thrid world country and I know a bit about money constraints. They are called the "syndrome of the short blanket", you can either cover your feet or the chest but not both. Yugoslavia was not a rich country and not being aligned with the former USSR meant that they needed to do things their own way so clearly there was not a huge budget available. What North Macedonia needs to do now is to prioritize and have things built where they are most needed and slowly start enhancing its netowrk and capabilities. If little has been done in the past 30 years, do not expect to have it all fixed up in 5 because it's not gonna be possible.
I know expectations are high but do not let anxiety get the grab
Cheers


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## The Wild Boy (Apr 5, 2020)

kokomo said:


> @The Wild Boy Look, I know not much about the Balkans in particular, but I was raised at a poor thrid world country and I know a bit about money constraints. They are called the "syndrome of the short blanket", you can either cover your feet or the chest but not both. Yugoslavia was not a rich country and not being aligned with the former USSR meant that they needed to do things their own way so clearly there was not a huge budget available. What North Macedonia needs to do now is to prioritize and have things built where they are most needed and slowly start enhancing its netowrk and capabilities. If little has been done in the past 30 years, do not expect to have it all fixed up in 5 because it's not gonna be possible.
> I know expectations are high but do not let anxiety get the grab
> Cheers


I agree. Without the USSR's support, Yugoslavia had to seek other ways to get money. I'm not going to mention those theories how Yugoslavia sold the space program to USA, but i can say that life did indeed get better in the 80's and a lot of corporations had a lot of money. Guess what happened? Majority of those directors just took the money, while they had chance, and whilst there were many things that worked well, some just didn't. After all Yugoslavia was not exactly the "prince on the white horse" we have been waiting for. Such example was the fact that in 1981 (even i sent a video above), there were plans for an urban railway. They had the money, the power, but nothing was built. Whilst in the 70's, Belgrade got Beovoz, it's urban railway network. Not only that, but here no one cared to double the tracks around Skopje, nothing specific happened. 

Regarding the part for little not being done, the thing is that yes we can't magically fix this system in under 5 years, but my country became independent in 1991, and that is exactly 30 years. We have had chance of 30 years. In that time span we could've not only doubled the tracks, but also electrified all lines, and maybe built faster railway lines, with speeds up to 160 km/h. But none of that happened.

In short, our railway network enjoyed it's best moments in Yugoslavia, it was properly maintained, but there was 0 vision and firm plans to do something to bring the railway network to modern standards. These people had the plans, but they were never realized. Yugoslavia had money, a lot of them. They spent billions into Tito's bunker.

Take Romania for example. It didn't rely on USSR and actually had better relations with USA. During Communist Romania the railway infrastructure just developed, skyrocketed, many new lines were built.

Poland also for example had a railway line built in the 70's which was in fact projected for speeds up to 250 km/h and was ahead of the time. But officials in Poland back then wanted to actually spend money. In Yugoslavia, they wanted to give plans, but spending money??? And to make things worse, after the collapse of Yugoslavia it only got worse, and the fact that those workers who maintained the railway tracks in 2007 were fired from their jobs.

With this way that we are developing our railway, nothing specific will change, and it might take another 30 years until some good development happens and we build something up to world standards.

Had we had serious politicians after the collapse of Yugoslavia, politicians who actually cared (instead of giving empty promises, and telling lines), we would've had a decent and modern railway system. My country is small, it's not like we have the Carpathians and Alps here. Most of the land on corridor 10 is flat, minus the Demir Kapija Gorge, and those hills from Skopje to Veles. 

Yugoslavia should've taken things more seriously, but sadly after Tito's death a lot of things just went wrong. Many of the directors, just grabbed money when they could. I know many of them, heck i even have a neighbor whose father was a director in a company back in Socialist Yugoslavia. They took plenty of money, and now they have 5 apartments.

I could write a whole book with 500 pages about about how bad the situation is.
What we really need is a change in the government, a change in the system. We need someone that will really understand the potential and need of the railways as a great alternative to cars. We should avoid what USA has done, and do what India has done. Cars don't need to entirely prevail, and we need to have solid alternatives.

Look at India, it has a great metro connection, urban railway and intercity railway connections. They work, and heck those lines even get overcrowded. Why? Because everyone prefers sitting, relaxing and traveling at speeds up to 160 km/h. There's very low % of people who choose to go on the Highway to drive from 1 city to another, and it's mostly trucks that are on the highways. Look at Japan with their Shinkansen for example, also the same story. Highways in Tokyo are almost empty. Why? Because the majority prefer public transport.

Imagine how huge of a difference will make if Subotica - Novi Sad - Beograd - Nis - Skopje - Veles - Gevgelija - Thessaloniki is all high speed railway line up to 250 km/h. People will just pack their luggages and choose to go with train instead of car, further reducing the congestion on our tolls and borders. Problem solved. But sadly we are run by persons why don't understand that, and only want to milk as much money as possible and whenever possible.


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## Theijs (Aug 15, 2012)

The Wild Boy said:


> Macedonian Railways enjoyed it's best post socialist years from 2005 to 2007 when it had the highest number of passengers post socialism.


So what is the current government lacking that the previous government of 2005-2007 had?

I visited Macedonia several times between 2004 and 2018. Most people in this forum are familiar with the state of infrastructure and available rolling stock.

Thanks for sharing where to money actually went, like the EBRD loan for railway corridor 8 towards the Bulgarian border. I have always wondered why there was no progress here.

The difference in Greece is that the railway network has been upgraded (here the Olympic Games were the incentive to do so) and more recently OSE has been privatised (after the financial collapse). Italian Railways bought Greek railways OSE and started to invest in rolling stock.

But in Greece are also problems with building infrastructure, like the regauge of the Athina - Patras line.

I think the current Macedonian government is waiting to start the negotiations as candidate member state of the EU, as with that come pre-accession funds for infrastructure. For the NMK authorities it’s better to wait for that, than to have Chinese loans.

An upgrade of corridor 10 to 120/140 km/h would already be great, as I recall the Vardar gorge to be quite curvy. It has than the same speed like Nis - Presevo.
I fear corridor 8 will have to wait a bit, although it’s long overdue.


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## Baron Hirsch (Jan 31, 2009)

Yugoslavia was not a poor country by the standards of Eastern Europe. For a long time, the standard of living was higher than in Greece and definitely than in the Soviet satelliitesin the Balkans . Of course, there were always huge differences between North and South Yugolsavia. Also, the state concentrated on Belgrade and Zagreb and neglected other parts of the country, such as Macedonia. But you could notice that until only a few years ago, buildings in Skopje definitely looked in better shape than in Sofia or Bucharest, as they were built with more money. 
Yugoslavia had also profited from the Marshal Fund after WWII and later the EU provided funding for the highway corridor. Unfortunately, neither the Yugoslav state nor foreign donors were ever too interested in improving the railway. After the initial crisis after independence, with little money at all to go around, once things became more stable, unfortunately there was a government in power which spent the public money on building fake Greek temple facades in Skopje, rather than any infrastructure. It would be great if priorities change and the embezzlement you mention was overcome.


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

The (recently) renewed train station in Gevgelija

BEFORE










AFTER

(not totally finished, obviously)






































__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1412081167327805440


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## Qtya (Aug 31, 2006)

Hi Guys! Are there any news regarding the Preševo-Skopje rail link?


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## The Wild Boy (Apr 5, 2020)

Interesting enough, the closest we have ever been to a fast railway, or at least a proposal for a fast railway was in 2013. And we missed that chance...

Back in 2013, there was a plan about building some hydro power plant, on the section of the Vardar river, somewhere near Veles. Building that hydro power plant would mean that water would rise and flood anything near it, which in this case includes the railway line from Zelenikovo (Skopje) to Veles. Given that the railway line runs next by the river, or almost close to it (That's how the ottomans built railways back then...) it would mean that the railway line would get flooded, something that no one wants. So they did a study, determined the speeds, other stuff and came with a conclusion.

Below, a text from the article translated from Macedonian to English language. It was long, so i was lazy to translate it myself.


A new two-lane railway with a maximum speed of 160 km per hour, a new one-lane railway that will be built along the existing highway Skopje - Veles or a thorough reconstruction of the existing railway from Dracevo to Veles are the three possible scenarios for better railway connection. 10 in Macedonia. The realization of this project in the coming years would be realized, if Power Plants of Macedonia (ELEM) decides to build the hydropower plant "Veles" near Bashino Selo, which is part of the project "Vardar Valley", which part of the railway Skopje - Veles will be submerged and will have to be dislocated.

At yesterday's presentation, the companies that prepare the project documentation announced the activities realized so far from the preparation of the feasibility study, the assessment of profitability of the investment and the study for assessment of the environment and social aspects. The Macedonian company "DECONS EMA", as a subcontractor of the project documentation, by the end of August should prepare the initial version of the environmental assessment study for this project, while in the upcoming period the feasibility study and cost-effectiveness analysis of the dislocation of this railway. Based on the analyzes made, from the offered three variants, as the most favorable and preferred route that will connect Skopje and Veles, the two-track railway with a length of 32.6 km has been selected. It would be realized on the right side of the river Vardar, along it the trains would move at a speed of 160 kilometers per hour and within it the longest tunnel in Macedonia with a length of nine kilometers would be built. This solution includes the construction of tunnels with a total length of 10.7 km, bridges with a total length of 470 meters and a gallery space with a length of 300 meters. In addition to this scenario, the designers offer a version for the construction of a new railway that would pass along the existing highway from Skopje to Veles in the length of 36.5 km, which would cost almost identical to the previous version, but would allow trains to move at maximum speed from 120 kilometers per hour.

The designers also offer a third option for the reconstruction of the existing railway section, which would maintain the current route and whose overhaul would increase the speed of the trains to 120 kilometers per hour. The selected consultants proposed these three solutions based on the 1982 project for the dislocation of the railway by the Faculty of Civil Engineering. At yesterday's meeting, the representative of ELEM also expressed his opinion, according to whom the most cost-effective option is to build a new railway connecting Skopje and Veles, which would pass through Sveti Nikole. He pointed out that the hydro power plant "Veles" should be built by 2030, and for this energy facility a preliminary design has already been prepared and its estimated value is 251 million euros. According to the state-owned company, the dislocation of the railway would be completed within three years, while the construction of the hydropower plant would be completed within seven years. Based on the need for rehabilitation of the railway Corridor 10, in 2012 from the European IPA program for regional development 1.4 million euros were allocated for the preparation of project documentation for reconstruction and construction of the railway from Dracevo to Veles, for reconstruction of the section from Kumanovo to Deljadrovce and from Bitola to Kremenica. The Austrian "ILF Consulting Engineers", together with the subcontractor "DECONS EMA" are currently working on the preparation of the documentation for the railway from Dracevo to Veles, while the projects for the other two sections are in a more advanced stage of preparation.


And the most important thing, the map:









(Check the link below if it does not load in full resolution)


http://www.build.mk/docs/users/1/Infrastruktura/Zeleznica/K10/Izmestuvanje%20na%20Dracevo-Veles/0101r.jpg



Sadly just like many other projects, this whole project with the hydro power plant never happened, so nothing happened in regards of building a new railway line.

As you can see, it envisioned double tracks, orange line is tunnels and weirdly enough one side takes a completely different route than the other one. One section from Veles to Skopje was planned as 160 km/h, with much smoother cures, and basically a really long tunnel (given that the location they choose was mountainous / hard terrain) , and the other one with fewer separate tunnels and running parallel to the A1 "Motorway" from Katlanovo to Veles.
Such crazy idea would not work, as first of all there are the problems with earthquakes. This area is not really seismically active, but it does get earthquakes. So having really long tunnels would not be a viable option, and it would drastically increase the price.
You can also see the river Vardar, and as shown in light blue / cyan color, you can exactly see what would actually happen if the hydro power plant were to be built. The water level would rise, and it would be a problem for the existing railway line as it is on more or less the same level as the river. Where as the "Motorway" from Katlanovo to Veles is on a higher level, the river would not flood it and thus not create any problems.

Now below, i have one image of a proposal made by me, what would be the best option to create a fast and reliable double tracked railway line from Dracevo to Veles (Skopje - Veles):










As explained in the image, it would have to follow the A1 from Veles to Katlanovo, it would have some tunnels and some viaducts, similar to the A1.
The alignment would need to be smooth enough, to allow such speeds up to 160 km/h. Infact we can first build it and run trains at speeds up to 140 km/h, and when we get enough money in the future, we could upgrade the speeds to 160 or 200 km/h, as long as we first ensure the alignment of the tracks is smooth enough to allow such speeds in the future.
Here also finishing the unfinished segment of A1 from Katlanovo to Veles (to actually turn it into a full profile motorway) would be good as well.

Edit:
The real reason why a completely new station would be needed at Veles, and why the existing railway line though Veles would not be reused is because there's no space for expansion of the railway line though Veles as there's literally houses next to it, property, many streets, etc... It basically goes though the heart of Veles more or less, and that would involve destroying a lot of houses, property and it would raise the cost a lot and cause a chaos in the city.










Now here's the second image above, and i explain how the fast railway line will continue towards Veles, and then further onward towards Gradsko & Negotino









Towards Gradsko & Negotino ^










The situation near Gradsko ^

Gradsko would also need to get a completely renovated & expanded railway station.

The section from Gradsko to Negotino is more or less curve realignments and some new alignments on the railway track.

One such big realignment:









On the section right after the Negotino railway station, maybe there won't be a need for a tunnel, if the existing curvature could do the job, or if it could be slightly realigned (as i have shown below).









Now I'm not the best at drawing, but i think that something similar to what i have shown could work, just a slight realignment of that curve should do the job and allow higher speeds.
Of course again, the station at Negotino would too have to be modernized and expanded.

Moving on, from the section from Negotino to Demir Kapija would be mostly curve realignments. There is one station near the thermal electric power plant Negotino, but i don't know if TEP Negotino is in operation, whether there would be a need to renovate this station, or get rid of it. But small renovations could be done here and there, and some expansion.
The station at Demir Kapija, just like the one in Negotino and all other stations would need to get renovated & expanded.









^ Now this is the hardest and most expensive section of my proposal for the fast railway on Corridor X. The reason why i choose this route, is because on the existing one it's impossible to get it over the speeds of 70 km/h, mainly because it runs too close to the Vardar river, there's not a lot of room for that railway to be double tracked, and realignment of curves there would not be simple.
This is why i choose this route, which would go parallel to the new A1 motorway from Demir Kapija to Smokvica, and it would connect to the existing railway towards Gevgelija, just after the Smokvica trumpet interchange.
After that most of the railway line would involve realignments of curves, from the Smokvica interchange all the way to Gevgelija.

In the case of the railway station in Gevgelija, it would of course again need renovations. As you could see on George's post above, it was recently renovated, but the building itself is old, and well if we already aim to build a fast railway connection, we might as well add some new platforms (expansion) which would help too. We can keep the old building, it won't be a problem but on a new line having an old building, that would not look the best.

Other than that yeah, this is pretty much the "wet dream" of mine, what i would actually love to see happen in the future. And i know that realistically this would not happen, not at least in the next 20 years given the existing situation with out railways and the politicians who have been ruling this country for 30 years. Nobody would will to do such thing.

For the project itself, it would obviously require double tracking because all the railway line from the Serbian border to the Greek border is single track, and that is a problem especially for the ever rising demand for freight / cargo traffic. Having to wait at a red light, and let cargo trains pass is a big problem here, and double tracking the entire corridor 10 should help a lot. This project, as i said would also involve a lot of realignments of curves, some sections would need a completely new segments, with much smoother curves to allow for higher speeds, and then again many new tunnels especially in the mountainous parts .The good thing is that most of the section from Veles to Demir Kapija would be cheaper, as it would involve work over the existing railway line which should reduce the price cost to do the fast railway.

Few other things to note:

My drawing sucks, i did my best to draw it as realistically as possible
Not everything here is 100% accurate and makes sense

Regarding the section from the Serbian border to Skopje, and the railway around Skopje i will publish soon with drawings like these what would be the best proposal for a fast railway link on that side. The good thing there is that the terrain is mostly flat, so the existing railway could be easily reused and just double tracked + realigned curves.


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## Theijs (Aug 15, 2012)

I have the impression that the current government is not interested to improve railway corridor X from its own pockets, so all offers are being rejected .


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## The Wild Boy (Apr 5, 2020)

Theijs said:


> I have the impression that the current government is not interested to improve railway corridor X from its own pockets, so all offers are being rejected .


No government in the past 30 years has in - reality considered the corridor 10 of a big importance. 

If they did consider it, it would've been a different story by now, we would've had a completely double tracked corridor 10 with speeds of at least 120 km/h. 
All political parties consider the corridor 10 of a big importance only on paper and nothing more. 
We began building the remaining segments of corridor 8, and we're struggling about that. And we didn't even do much on the main important corridor 10. How are we going to connect a new railway line from Bulgaria to our main corridor, with a corridor in a such bad state... 

I don't think there were any offers for anything related to the corridor 10, because no government launched any tender projects. The stuff that i wrote above is merely what i think should be done, i state that it's a _wet dream of mine _

They can keep promising, but those promises will be only on paper. 

We will see if we can learn anything from this railway line to Bulgaria that we're struggling to build for 25+ years now... 
And our only chance in 2013, no one took it, the government didn't do anything, that plan for the hydro power plant did not go by and nothing changed. 

The best any government can do now is only repair the railway tracks when an accident occurres saddly. 

Hopefully we all can live long enough, and in the next 50 - 60 years see the railway system modernize in this country, but i don't think anything special will happen, not at least with these governments. 

Greece already did it's new stretch to our border, and it's 160 km/h for most part. Ask how much did it cost them, and what it took them to build, and you will see. But there the government invests in railway, they at least do something and have clear plans. We have no clear plans, nothing. Our only chances that existed, we abolished those chances. 

Then, Serbia has plans to build 160 - 140 km/h fast railway to my country. We will be the only country left, in the next 10 - 15 years without any proper rail connection on the corridor 10. Hungary is modernizing, Serbia is modernizing (Belgrade - Novi Sad) and will modernize more, Greece is pretty much done for the section towards Thessaloniki, and we haven't done anything. But hey, at least that might put pressure and push the politicians here to realize that the railway is of a big importance and that we need to work to get it to modern levels. 
We can, there will be clear benefit and people will regain the trust and switch back to riding on trains. It's our politicians that screw up the work. 

After all yeah, this government nor any government will give any money from their pockets towards railway projects. It will all mostly be EU investments or loans, and we see how long it takes for such projects to get built. This government also left the workers on the railway from Kumanovo to Kriva Palanka 2 - 3 months without regular salary, the workers had to stop the work, rioted and then even worse the company that was working on that railway project also left (German company)...


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## Theijs (Aug 15, 2012)

The Wild Boy said:


> This government nor any government will give any money from their pockets towards railway projects. It will all mostly be EU investments or loans, and we see how long it takes for such projects to get built.


That’s as well what was told to me. “We don’t find the railways important, so let those, who find it important, pay for it, construct it, and we will maintain it”.
Sad to hear such a laid back strategy. In other words: let us first enter the EU, only than we can talk, as we don’t want (unfavourable) loans from China, Russia or the EIB or the EBRD.


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## The Wild Boy (Apr 5, 2020)




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## Theijs (Aug 15, 2012)

The Wild Boy said:


>


For the non-native speakers in this English speaking forum, can you please write a summary of what we see here?

I guess it could be the opening of Skopje railway station, but as the earthquake was back in 1963, I can’t imagine it took 18 years to built a new station…


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