NORTH MACEDONIA: Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski has inaugurated the first section of a future rail route between Skopje and Sofia which is being developed as part of pan-European Corridor VIII to link the Adriatic and the Black seas.
The section of line inaugurated on January 17 starts at Kumanovo on the Corridor X main line between Skopje and Beograd and runs 30·8 km to Beljakovce. It includes three large and six small stations, five bridges and one tunnel.
It originally opened 1956, but traffic stopped in 1994 because of the poor state of the infrastructure. Domestic companies were appointed to rehabilitate the line the same year, but this work made little progress and the lots were later re-tendered. Strabag was awarded a €40m contract in 2022.
The €78m rehabilitation project was financed by the national government, European Union and international institutions including the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development.
‘This line is not just an infrastructure project, but a new opportunity for economic development, better connectivity and prosperity for the entire region’, said Mickoski.
Matej Zakonjšek, Director of the Permanent Secretariat of Transport Community, an EU-backed multinational agency for the western Balkans, told Railway Gazette International that the reopening of ‘is an important step towards strengthening sustainable transport and regional connectivity. As stated by the Minister of Transport & Communications of North Macedonia, the line will initially operate with services running two to three times per week. We believe there is significant room for improvement in fleet capacity, which would help unlock the line’s full potential.’
The limited service provision is partly attributable to much of national operator ŽRSMT’s fleet being out of use.
In 2022 Turkish company Gülermak was awarded a €155m contract to build the next 33·9 km section from Beljakovce to Kriva Palanka, and some works have now been completed.
Early works have also started on the 23·4 km from Kriva Palanka to the Deve Bair border crossing where the line will meet an extension of the Bulgarian network near Gyueshevo.
The first plans for the Macedonia - Bulgaria line emerged in 1869, but nothing was built. Planning restarted in 1910 and 1912, but progress was interrupted by World War I. Construction from Gyueshevo to Kumanovo started in 1942 but stopped at the end of World War II in 1945 with 29 of the 53 planned tunnels partially finished.
