The new line would be a 2.4-kilometre tunnel under the Deve Bair mountain separating the two countries. According to the latest official statements, the railway should be ready by 2030, but the lack of funds might extend the timeline. It would be part of the Sofia-Kumanovo section and of the larger future Corridor VIII, connecting Adriatic ports with the Black Sea via rail.

2028 or 2030?

On the one hand, Bulgaria had been working on upgrading the Sofia-Gyueshevo line, connecting its capital to the border with North Macedonia. The tunnel on the Bulgarian side will start here. “By the end of 2028, a Bulgarian train will reach Deve Bair,” the Bulgarian minister said last June.

On the other hand, it seems that we will have to wait an additional couple of years to see trains actually crossing the mountain. “By 2030, Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia will complete the construction of the railway connection between the two countries”, the minister said a few days ago.

The road to Corridor VIII

The main issue is the network in North Macedonia. Currently, there is no line in the north-west of the country, which means that the tunnel under the Deve Bair is not the only piece of infrastructure that will have to be built from scratch. The idea is to create a line between Kriva Palanka (at the feet of the Deve Bair mountain) and Kumanovo, not far from the Serbian border. From there, the network connects to the capital Skopje.

Opening a railway line between Bulgaria and North Macedonia is a key step in the development of the so-called Corridor VIII, connecting the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea. However, North Macedonia needs significant efforts. The lack of a line going into Bulgaria is not the only problem for Skopje. The country is also missing a westward connection to Albania, for which there does not even seem to be a plan.

According to EBRD, the funding project seeks to boost MRT’s performance through the implementation of a corporate development plan. That should improve the company’s efficiency and financial sustainability, the bank says.

“The plan will include the creation of an efficiency action plan, with specific measures to refine the company’s tariff methodology, as well as updates to and the harmonisation of its public service obligation methodology in accordance with EU requirements.” It also hopes to boost gender equality and inclusivity at the company.

An important step for the industry

EBRD’s loan represents a significant step in moving North Macedonian rail freight forward, according to Fatih Turkmenoglu, EBRD Head of North Macedonia. “By supporting the renewal of rolling stock and corporate improvements to the national railway operator, the EBRD is helping boost the competitiveness, safety and sustainability of the country’s transport network”, says Turkmenoglu.

“The project will not only deliver tangible environmental benefits but also set new standards for operational excellence and equal opportunity in the sector. It is an important investment that will enable the country’s export-oriented businesses to integrate into global value chains. This will enhance private-sector competitiveness and create jobs, ultimately supporting the country in tackling population outflows.”

Transport Community has published two separate reports, detailing the progress made in the Western Balkans, including their “Next Generation Rail Action Plans”, and in Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. The organisation thus details the rate of transposition of EU law, but also progress made on broader action plans. Those include not only transposition of laws, but also other measures, like EU cooperation, sustainability measures, infrastructure projects or operational improvements.

Progress in Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia

These reports offer some interesting insights into the state of rail integration in the region. Let’s begin by looking at Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. Progress on the adoption of EU regulations is very limited, with Georgia taking the lead.

The country has fully adopted half the regulations on train driver licensing and around a third of the acquis on railway safety. It lags behind on interoperability, having adopted none of the regulations. That may not be all that surprising, considering that Georgia is far away from the European rail network. Interoperability is likely low on the priority list, especially considering the importance of transit freight from Azerbaijan and Russia.

The EU integration process of Georgia has essentially halted, and one should not necessarily expect further progress on rail regulation alignment. Due to the country’s location, one could say that this is not exactly a catastrophe. Georgia is of limited relevance to the EU’s rail network, occupying a more important position on the INSTC and Middle Corridor.

No full transposition

Neither Moldova nor Ukraine has fully implemented any aspect of the EU rail acquis. Moldova has made some progress across every area (working time and passenger rights, safety, interoperability, train driver licensing and market access), save one (a regulation relating to ERA). It has not fully implemented anything yet, however.

The same applies to Ukraine, but Transport Community notes that many draft pieces of legislation are currently awaiting adoption. That could significantly boost the rate of EU acquis adoption in Ukraine in the near future.

Progress in the Western Balkans

Let’s move on to the Western Balkans and take a look at the action plan for the region. Note that this goes beyond just the transposition of the EU acquis, but includes additional measures along key pillars: rail market access, interoperability, infrastructure modernisation, safety, driver licensing, regional cooperation and sustainable and multimodal measures. See the graph below for an overview of progress made (hover over the bars to get additional information).

On a national level, it is interesting to look at the rate of transposition of EU rail regulations. There is one clear champion in that area: Serbia. That is perhaps not entirely surprising, since the country has significant EU transit flows. Aligning itself with EU practices helps to streamline those operations, such as imports from the Greek port of Piraeus that travel towards logistics hubs in Hungary.

Serbia is the only country that has transposed a significant share of regulations relating to market access (7 out of 16) and has partially transposed two. The market access rules are supposed to improve competitiveness and create fair business conditions.

Albania follows behind Serbia with 5 regulations on market access fully transposed. All the others – North Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro have barely implemented any market access regulations.

In terms of adopting interoperability measures, we have another champion: Montenegro. It has fully transposed 14 out of 22 legal acts. Those include TSIs on infrastructure, energy, locomotives, noise, safety in tunnels, control command and signalling and freight wagons. Serbia follows closely behind Montenegro, and Albania and Kosovo also have relatively good scores (41% partially transposed).

The key takeaway from the Western Balkans is that Serbia is far ahead of the rest, likely thanks to its key role as a transit country. Albania also performs well in adopting EU regulations. The others have fewer incentives to align themselves, and are therefore behind. The idea is that aligning with EU regulations will open up rail markets and allow for more competitive business, but success also depends on the rate of implementation in neighbouring countries, Transport Community points out.

Corridor VIII

The future Skopje-Sofia section, including the cross-border tunnel, will be part of Corridor VIII. This will be a sea-rail multimodal route starting in the Italian southeastern ports in the Mediterranean and ending on the Bulgarian east coast on the Black Sea. The rail network in Bulgaria is already present, while the sections in North Macedonia and Albania are still largely under construction.

The Bulgarian ministry also emphasised how this corridor will be vital not only as a trade lane between the Mediterranean and Black Seas, but also for Europe’s security. “The railway along this axis is part of the transport security of Southeast Europe and the connectivity of the Alliance along its southeastern flank”, it said in a press release.

The last 420 metres will have to wait

The last 420 metres will only be built once the future tunnel crossing the border between Bulgaria and North Macedonia will be completed, the Bulgarian ministry of transport said. Construction of this tunnel has not started yet, but the two countries signed an agreement for 69 million euros to make it happen by 2028. On the other hand, it needs to be mentioned that the railway network in North Macedonia will still need a massive upgrade on its east-west axis before Corridor VIII can be up and running.

Pernik–Radomir

The second and more expensive tender, with 462 million leva (236 million euros) allocated, is for the Pernik–Radomir line, in the west of the country on the way to North Macedonia. This will be a new 17-kilometre double track railway, with the removal of level crossings and renovation of stations included as well. The deadline for this project was set by the Bulgarian ministry for mid-2029.

Both countries are investing to develop the rail axis that will connect the Bulgarian capital Sofia with Kumanovo, North Macedonia’s second largest city. Bulgaria says that the modernisation of the line from Sofia to the border with North Macedonia will cost over 1,5 billion euros.

North Macedonia, on the other hand, has modernised the line between Kumanovo and Beljakovce (30.8 kilometres) and is building a new one from there to the border. The construction of the new infrastructure will be divided into two phases: Beljakovce-Kriva Palanka (34 kilometres) and Kriva Palanka-Deve Bair (23 kilometres).

Corridor VIII

A railway connection between the two countries would have advantages both for them as well as for southern Europe in general. Bulgaria and North Macedonia are strong trade partners, with Bulgaria exporting goods for over 800 million euros in 2024. The main industries involved in this export, (iron, steel, fuel, automotive) could benefit from a rail connection.

Moreover, this line would become a key section of the Corridor VIII, a multimodal route starting in the Italian southeastern ports in the Mediterranean and ending on the Bulgarian east coast on the Black Sea. Much of the rail part of the corridor, which will stretch from the Albanian ports of Durres and Vlore to the Bulgarian ports of Varna and Bugas is still under construction. For a total estimated investment of 2.1 billion euros only for Albania and North Macedonia, almost 600 kilometres of railways are planned for the route.

Corridor VIII

Corridor VIII is a vital artery in Eastern Europe, connecting the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea. Running from the port of Durres in Albania to the port of Varna in Bulgaria, it is also important for NATO and military mobility as the Bulgarian ministry highlighted. On its part, Bulgaria claims it has already invested over two billion euros for the rail section of the corridor and said it will continue construction up until the border.

What North Macedonia will do, on the other hand, remains somewhat of a mystery. Currently, the rail part of Corridor VIII in the country is not connected to Albania either. The existing infrastructure runs from Kičevo, about 50 kilometres from the Albanian border, to Kumanovo, roughly 70 kilometres from the Bulgarian border. If there is at least a plan for the railway to Bulgaria, the same cannot be said for the one going to Albania.

The cross-border problem

The Kriva Palanka-Gyueshevo border crossing is not the only one creating controversies. For instance, France and Spain do not seem to be on the same page when it comes to creating a railway connecting the two countries through the Pyrenees mountains. Spain is pushing for the reopening of the Pau-Canfranc line, closed since the 1970s. France did not seem to be too interested in the initiative, but things have changed towards the end of last year.

Another example is the Emmerich-Oberhausen line in Germany, which leads to the border with the Netherlands and is getting a third track. In this case, the two countries were at odds about the planned closures of the section throughout the construction period. Another cross-border initiative often present in public debate is Rail Baltica, a project supposed to link the three Baltic countries with a standard gauge connection.

All these projects highlight how the European landscape is more fragmented than institutions would like, at least concerning the harmonisation of transport infrastructure. In many cases, including some of the ones mentioned above, member states still put national interests ahead of European ones. A question thus arises: How can EU countries appear united to the eyes of the rest of the world if they can rarely agree with each other?

The remark that Liagkos made about the development of infrastructure concerns both the Greek network and the rail link running from Northern Greece and through the Balkans. In Greece, it is imperative to upgrade the railway link leading to the border with North Macedonia (Idomeni border crossing), which still needs to be fully electrified.

At the same time, the port of Thessaloniki expects to acquire a direct railway connection between its 6th and largest dock and the main Greek railway network. Despite Thessaloniki being the second largest port in Greece, following Piraeus, such a rail link is still missing and is expected to be completed via a four billion euro railway investment plan in Greece.

Moreover, the corridor crossing through North Macedonia and further from Serbia to Hungary still has a long way to go before becoming fully electrified and efficient regarding capacity, train speed and weight.

Second block train

Almost a year ago, in late August 2022, the seaport of Thessaloniki acquired its first container block train service, linking it with the MBOX Terminal in Nis, Serbia. The service was launched by shipping giant CMA CGM. It was made possible through the cooperation of multiple parties, including the Greek (Hellenic Train), North Macedonian (MZ Transport) and Serbian (Kombinovani Prevoz) railway companies and nine other private and public entities.