The railway from Thessaloniki to Bitola is a long

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

line, that connects the port city

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

with

Bitola Bitola (; ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki border crossing ...

in the

Republic of North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

, via

Veroia Veria (; ), officially transliterated Veroia, historically also spelled Beroea or Berea, is a city in Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the regional unit of Imathia. It is located north-nort ...

Edessa Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...

Amyntaio Amyntaio (, before 1928: Σόροβιτς – ''Sorovits''; Macedonian: Суровичево, Сорович), is a town and municipality in the Florina regional unit of Macedonia, Greece. The population of Amyntaio proper is 4,348, while that o ...

and

Florina Florina (, ''Flórina''; known also by some alternative names) is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. The town of Florina is the capital of the Florina regional uni ...

. The line was opened in 1894 under the name "Société du Chemin de Fer ottoman Salonique-Monastir", when the area was part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. The section between the international border and Bitola is not used anymore, and passenger services are restricted to the section between Thessaloniki and Florina. The easternmost section of the line, Platy–Thessaloniki, is part of the important connection towards Athens and Northern Greece.

Course

The eastern terminus of the Thessaloniki–Bitola railway is the New Railway Station, Thessaloniki. Leaving the Athens–Thessaloniki mainline at Platy, it runs alongside the

Aliakmon The Haliacmon (, ''Aliákmonas''; formerly: , ''Aliákmon'' or ''Haliákmōn'') is the longest river flowing entirely in Greece, with a total length of . In Greece there are three rivers longer than Haliacmon: Maritsa (), Struma (Strymónas), bot ...

River, through Alexandreia and then passes through to Veroia, Naousa, and

Skydra Skydra (, in modern Greek, before 1926: Βερτεκόπ - ''Vertekop'', Slavic: Вртикоп, ''Vrtikop'') is a municipality in the Pella regional unit of Macedonia in Greece. Municipality The municipality Skydra was formed at the 2011 loca ...

, before climbing to Edessa and then, along the northern shore of Lake Vegoritida, reaching

. At Amyntaio the Kozani–Amyntaio railway branches off towards

Kozani Kozani (, ) is a town in northern Greece, capital of Kozani (regional unit), Kozani regional unit and of Western Macedonia. It is located in the western part of Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, in the northern part of the Aliakmonas, Aliakmonas riv ...

, serving

Ptolemaida Ptolemaida (, Katharevousa: Πτολεμαΐς, ''Ptolemaïs'') is a town and a former municipality in Kozani regional unit, Western Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Eordaia, of which it i ...

and the power stations of the national power company ΔΕΗ. The main line continues towards the city of

. At Neos Kafkasos, the international border is crossed, and after 219 km the city of

in the

is reached. This short international connection is now disused, with all international traffic being routed via Idomeni and

Gevgelija Gevgelija (; ) is a town with a population of 15,685 located in the very southeast of North Macedonia along the banks of the Vardar River, situated at the country's main border with Greece (Bogorodica-Evzoni), the point which links the motorway f ...

Main stations

The main stations on the Thessaloniki–Bitola railway are: * New Railway Station, Thessaloniki * Platy railway station * Veroia railway station * Edessa railway station * Amyntaio railway station * Florina railway station * Bitola railway station

History

The idea of a trans-Macedonian railway had existed since the 1850s when, in January 1859, a Memorandum regarding the construction of the

Salonica Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

– Monastir (today's Bitola) line was signed. It, however, wasn't until 28 October 1890 that the Ottoman

Sublime Porte The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( or ''Babıali''; ), was a synecdoche or metaphor used to refer collectively to the central government of the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul. It is particularly referred to the buildi ...

gave

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

a concession to build the railway as a branch line of the Oriental Railways and to possibly further extend it to an Albanian port. "Société du Chemin de Fer ottoman Salonique-Monastir" was set up as an Ottoman company, and its headquarters were in Constantinople. The construction works started in May 1891 and were completed in June 1894. Upon completion, the line operations were given to the

Chemins de fer Orientaux The Chemins de fer Orientaux (English: Oriental Railway; or ''İstanbul-Viyana Demiryolu'') (reporting mark: CO) was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman railway company operating in Rumelia (the European part of the Ottoman Empire, corresponding to the ...

, which were already operating the Salonique to Mitrovica and Vranje railways. Whether Baron

Maurice de Hirsch Moritz Freiherr von Hirsch auf Gereuth (; ; 9 December 1831 – 21 April 1896), commonly known as Maurice de Hirsch, was a German Jewish financier and philanthropist who set up charitable foundations to promote Jewish education and improve the ...

took an active role in this railway is debatable, considering he retired from the Balkan railway building shortly before this project began. While at that time, the practice of compulsory work was still in use, labour was cheap in rural Macedonia, and the engineers were reported to be enthusiastically welcomed. After the end of

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

in 1913, the line ended fully in Greek territory, except for the last 17 km to Monastir, which ended up in

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. The Greek government purchased the Greek part Salonica Monastir railway on 17 October 1925, and the railway became part of the

Hellenic State Railways Hellenic State Railways or SEK (, ''Sidirodromi Ellinikou Kratous''; Σ.Ε.Κ.) was a Greek public sector entity (legal person of public law, ) which was established on 18 March 1920 by the law 2144/20 and operated most Greek railway lines until 1 ...

Locomotives

Locomotives of the Salonic Monastir Railway

Services

The Thessaloniki–Bitola railway is used by the following passenger services: *Intercity, Express and Regular services Athens–Thessaloniki and Thessaloniki–Kalampaka *Local services Thessaloniki–Florina and Thessaloniki–Larissa

Gallery

File:Alexandreia, Imathia.jpg,

Alexandria railway station Alexandria railway station serves the town of Alexandria, Scotland, Alexandria, Scotland. The railway station, station is managed by ScotRail and is served by their trains on the North Clyde Line. It is sited northwest of , measured via Singer ...

File:Σιδηροδρομικός σταθμός Σκύδρα (1).jpg, Skydra railway station File:Vladovo-Agras-Railway station.jpg, Agras railway station File:RS Amyntaio.jpg, Amyntaio railway station File:Florina Railway Station.jpg, Florina railway station

Course

Main stations

History

Locomotives

Services

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading