Skopje commuter train: regular but nearly empty
Single route runs from Skopje to Zelenikovo and back with five stops; the 25 km journey is timetabled at 25 minutes.
Empty but regular — the commuter train is the only service on the Macedonian railway that reliably moves passengers between points in and around Skopje without major disruption.
Observers who spent half a day on the platforms of Skopje Railway Station and rode the service twice found it currently operates on a single route: from Skopje to Zelenikovo and back, with five stations in between.
Zelenikovo serves as a passing stop for the rare intercity trains to Veles, Bitola and Gevgelija, and the commuter service uses the same track. For the commuter train there is a separate unit and timetable; the scheduled distance of 25 kilometers in one direction is to be covered in 25 minutes.
Timing versus crowding
While many intercity trains were delayed by hours or did not depart from Skopje during the same visit, the commuter train continued to run. It was not to the minute like timetabled urban services in countries with highly developed rail networks, but it kept moving.
The service departs from platform three and is formed of a Chinese electric multiple unit bought about ten years ago as part of the last passenger-rolling-stock procurement for the Macedonian railway.
Photo: press material from the event
