North Macedonia has completed the rehabilitation of the Skopje rail freight bypass. The reinstatement of operations on the railway comes ahead of schedule and should help attract more freight on the route.
Previously, freight trains had to travel straight through the city centre. That situation has now come to an end. “This is important from two aspects. First, from an environmental perspective, because freight traffic is being diverted from the center of Skopje”, commented the North Macedonian Minister of Transport and Communications Aleksandar Nikoloski.
The second benefit is that “travel time will be shortened and Macedonia will become more attractive for cargo traffic”, Nikoloski added. The minister did not elaborate on the time gains.
The bypass is not an entirely new railway. However, the state of the infrastructure had deteriorated to such an extent that freight could not reliably run on the section anymore. “Together with the [infrastructure manager] PE ‘Railways and Infrastructure’, we worked on a complete reconstruction and the project was completed in record time”, explained Nikoloski.
Border crossings
North Macedonia and Greece opened a “one-stop shop” facility at their common border earlier. Rather than having to stop twice, freight trains only have one stop to pass. This is exerting a positive effect on freight operations, added Nikoloski.
It looks like North Macedonia wants to emulate this model on its northern border with Serbia. “We are currently working on a joint railway border crossing with Serbia, which will further speed up transport”, the transport minister is quoted as saying in local media.
