Skopje, 23 November 2025 (MIA) - The plan is to have two railroads from the country's north to its south. The current one will be rehabilitated in order to speed up traffic, while the second one will be built as close as possible to the existing one, says Railways Infrastructure director Sinisha Ivanovski in Sunday's interview with Radio Free Europe.

"We plan to have two components. The first one is to keep the existing railroad but with straightening of certain curves in order to speed up the railway to over 120km/h. The second component is to build a second line as close as possible to the existing one, resulting in about 200km-long railroad in both ways," says Ivanovski.

According to him, the ultimate goal is to have a two-way, fully electrified railroad with 200km/h passenger trains and 120km/h cargo transport.

"Feasibility studies are ongoing on where to position the new route and place it in parallel with the old one," notes Ivanovski and adds that the construction would cost about EUR 1.9 billion, and completed in about five years.

On the Skopje Railway Station, Ivanovski says its rehabilitation considers merging the old look designed by Kenzō Tange with new modern elements.

"We have launched the project in cooperation with the Faculty of Civil Engineering and the Faculty of Architecture. The rehabilitation works should be finished in about 1,5-2 years," says Ivanovski.

MIA file photo