A meeting at the highest level between Macedonia, Greece, Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, in the presence of the European Commissioner for Transport and Mobility, ApostolosTsitsikostas, will be held on Thursday, June 18 in Thessaloniki, at which the importance of investments in Corridor X will once again be confirmed, Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport AleksandarNikoloskitold TV Sitel in an interview.
Regarding Prime Minister HristijanMickoski’s announcement that the cornerstone for the high-speed railway on Corridor X from Kumanovo to Gevgelijais expected to be laid next autumn, and whether the announced “super train” on the Sofia-Athens route should perhaps cause any concern, Nikoloski said that in this context, Mickoski’s vision played an important role in the development of these projects, and that the aforementioned meeting on June 18 is no coincidence.
Regarding cargo-rail transport, Nikoloski says that currently the majority of cargo traffic is carried out along Corridor X.
“I was informed by PE Railway Transport Director Koshutikj that in the first three months of this year, a growth of 23 percent in the cargo part and 18 percent in finances was recorded. This is an excellent indicator. Also, today I was informed by Railway Infrastructure Director Ivanovskithat the line from Drachevo to Miladinovci will be operational by next weekend at the latest. Practically, it is a cargo bypass around Skopje, which means that freight trains will no longer enter the city. This is good for three reasons. This significantly shortens the route to Serbia, Hungary, Austria and other countries in Central Europe. If we add to that the fact that together with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a procedure for the procurement of new cargo locomotives is underway, then the story is clear,” said Deputy PM Nikoloski.
