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Pan-European Corridor X | |
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Major junctions | |
Start end | Salzburg (Austria) |
End end | Thessaloniki (Greece) |
Location | |
Countries | Austria Bulgaria Croatia Greece Hungary North Macedonia Serbia Slovenia |
Highway system | |
The Corridor X is one of the pan-European corridors. It runs between Salzburg in Austria and Thessaloniki in Greece. The corridor passes through Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia, and Greece. It has four branches: Xa, Xb, Xc, and Xd.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has given loans to support infrastructure improvements along Corridor X. [1]
X: Salzburg - Ljubljana - Zagreb - Belgrade - Niš - Skopje - Veles - Thessaloniki.
Corridor Xa runs between Graz, Austria and Zagreb, Croatia through Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria.
Corridor Xc follows the route Niš - Sofia - Plovdiv - Edirne - Istanbul.
The road in Serbia from Niš to the Bulgarian border nearby Dimitrovgrad is recently upgraded to a motorway standard. The construction works in all sections are completed on November 9, 2019. [2]
In Bulgaria, I-8 road connect Sofia with the Serbian border, but Kalotina motorway is planned to supersede it. Currently the transit traffic has to pass via the Sofia Ring Road, but a new bypass Northern Speed Tangent is under construction since 2015 [3] and is expected to be completed in 2016. Trakia motorway (A1) runs from Sofia to Chirpan, where Maritsa motorway (A4), completed in October 2015, [4] branches off to Turkey.
The following is a summary of the transport system of the Republic of North Macedonia.
Transport in Serbia includes transport by road, rail, air and water. Road transport incorporates a comprehensive network of major and minor roads. Rail transport is fairly developed, although dual track and electrification are not very common. Water transport revolves around river transport while air transport around country's three main international airports.
The Brotherhood and Unity Highway, officially classed as the M-1 highway, was a highway that stretched over 1,182 km (734 mi) across Yugoslavia, from the Austrian border at Jesenice in the northwest via Ljubljana, Zagreb, Belgrade and Skopje to Gevgelija on the Greek border in the southeast. It was the main modern highway in the country, connecting four constituent republics and the country as a whole with neighboring highways.
Makedonski Železnici is the public enterprise for railways in the Republic of North Macedonia. Railway operations are run by Železnici na Republika Severna Makedonija Transport and the infrastructure maintained by Makedonski Železnici Infrastruktura.
Aeroput was an airline and flag carrier of Yugoslavia from 1927 until 1948.
Gradsko is a village located in the central part of North Macedonia. It is the seat of the Gradsko municipality. It is located very close to the main motorway which links Gevgelija on North Macedonia's border with Greece.
The Corridor Xa is a branch of the Pan-European Corridor X. It runs north–south between the cities of Graz and Zagreb through three countries: Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. The road route of Corridor Xa is concurrent with the European route E59 throughout its entire length.
The Chemins de fer Orientaux was an Ottoman railway company operating in Rumelia and later European Turkey, from 1870 to 1937. The CO was one of the five pioneer railways in the Ottoman Empire and built the main trunk line in the Balkans. Between 1889 and 1937, the railway hosted the world-famous Orient Express.
The Tsarigrad Road, also called the Road to Istanbul, Imperial Road, Moravian Road, or Great Road, was one of the most important roads in the Middle Ages on the Balkan Peninsula; it linked Belgrade with Istanbul. Its forerunner was the Roman Via Militaris, and prior to that, still older pre-antique traffic that took place along this route. Many passed in both directions along what was to be the Tsarigrad Road: units, groups, and military formations came to pillage and kill, or to defend, or to conquer new frontiers. The mission of the brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia to Christianize the Slavs passed along the same road.
The Balkan Express was an international overnight passenger train that ran between Istanbul, Turkey and Belgrade, Serbia, via Sofia, Bulgaria. The train began operations in 1991 from Istanbul to Budapest, Hungary, but was cut back to Belgrade after 2000. Service was discontinued in March 2013, when Sirkeci station closed for the construction of the Marmaray commuter rail network. In 2017, the Istanbul-Sofia Express was inaugurated as a successor to the Balkan Express, although the route was shortened to Sofia.
The Sultans Trail is a long-distance footpath from Vienna to Istanbul. It is 2,400 kilometres (1,500 mi) long. The path passes through Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, East Macedonia and Thrace in northern Greece, and Turkey.
Transportation Center Skopje is the main city bus and railway station in the Republic of North Macedonia capital Skopje. It was built after the 1963 Skopje earthquake that destroyed the Original station buildings. The station is served by Long-distance trains to Belgrade, Thessaloniki, Athens and Ljubljana, and Express routes to Thessaloniki, via Vienna that serve Skopje twice daily, once going to Thessaloniki and second time returning to Vienna, passing through Belgrade and Ljubljana. The Skopje railway station is 15 min walking from the main square Makedonija.
The Belgrade–Šid railway officially designated the Railway line 1 is a 120-kilometre (75 mi) long railway line in Serbia that connects the city of Belgrade with the Croatian railway network and the city of Zagreb. Its route follows the Sava river valley. It is an integral part of the Pan-European Corridor X, running from Salzburg and Ljubljana towards Skopje and Thessaloniki. It is electrified and mostly double-tracked.
The Budapest–Belgrade–Skopje–Athens railway, a China-CEE hallmark project (2014) of Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative, is a planned railroad international connection in Central and Southeast Europe – between Budapest (Hungary), Belgrade (Serbia), Skopje, Athens and its China-run port of Piraeus (Greece). Planned speed is up to 200 km/h (120 mph) depending on the sections: 160 km/h (99 mph) on the Hungarian section between Budapest and Serbia, 200 km/h (120 mph) between the Hungarian border and Belgrade and on most of the Belgrade-Niš section, while the current line between Thessaloniki and Athens is 200 km/h (120 mph) with upgrades to 160 km/h (99 mph) ongoing. The Chinese planners do not comment on the other tracks' realizable speeds. Originally, they spoke of up to 300 km/h (190 mph) throughout.
Gastarbeiterroute is a German language slang term originating in the 1970s. It referred to the former European route 5, which started in Munich and terminated in either Istanbul or Thessaloniki. In summer, as well as for Christmas and Easter, so-called gastarbeiters working in West Germany, Austria and Western Europe would drive their automobiles south on the gastarbeiterroute through Austria and Yugoslavia to their countries of origin. It was notoriously dangerous for drivers and passengers who traveled on congested roads not suited to such heavy traffic.