The Sofia-Skopje rail link is a strategic cross-border project designed to modernize the infrastructure between the two capitals, significantly reduce travel times, and stimulate economic development, trade, and sustainable mobility throughout the region. The last period has been marked by important steps in the continuation of the project in both countries.
The European policy on the creation of transport corridors is implemented by each state in order to integrate its own rail network, but also to ensure cross-border connections that allow trains to pass without interruption on modern infrastructure.
In this context, Member States must adapt technical standards, remove capacity bottlenecks, and modernize critical sections so that the entire corridor functions as a unified system. The transport corridors that are part of the TEN-T are not just improved rail lines, but a coherent set of investments in interoperability, digitization, safety, and energy efficiency. That is why close cooperation between countries, synchronisation of the implementation schedule and access to European funding are essential to ensure infrastructure continuity and maximise economic and logistical benefits at regional level.
This is the case for Bulgaria and North Macedonia, whose rail network is part of the TEN-T extension in the Western Balkans, with one of the projects to be implemented being the connection between Sofia and Skopje.
For Bulgaria, this project represents the strengthening of connections with the Western Balkans region, while for North Macedonia, the project is of strategic importance as it will mean easy access to the European rail network, contributing to economic development and integration and improving competitiveness by facilitating transit traffic—both freight and passenger—with EU member states and Turkiye.
North Macedonia has a 925 km single-track network connecting large and smaller cities, bordering the railway systems of Serbia, Kosovo, Albania, and Greece to the south, and the new project will ensure connectivity with Bulgaria. It should be noted that the most important arteries are Corridor X, which is 215 km long in North Macedonia, and Corridor VIII, which crosses from the east of Skopje to the border with Bulgaria, a connection that is currently being implemented.
Corridor VIII connects Sofia and Skopje
The Corridor VIII project, which connects Bulgaria and North Macedonia, is being implemented in several stages, including six sections with a total length of 263 km.
On Bulgarian territory, Corridor VIII has a total length of 947 km, and the works are divided into four sections for modernization and construction, with a total estimated investment of EUR 1.2 billion. As part of the first section of the project, Bulgaria is modernizing the Sofia-Gyueshevo connection for integration with the future tunnel. This involves the construction of a 2.4 km tunnel between Gyueshevo and Deve Bair, which will be the cross-border connection and a missing link in Corridor VIII between the two countries.
In November, Bulgarian Transport Minister Grozdan Karadzhov and his North Macedonian counterpart Aleksandar Nikoloski signed an agreement for the construction and operation of the railway tunnel between Gyueshevo (Bulgaria) and Deve Bair (in North Macedonia), which will contribute to the formation of the Sofia–Skopje line, “a project that brings back to life an idea that is over a century old – the rail connection between Sofia and Skopje, whose first designs date back to 1897,” said the Bulgarian minister.
In North Macedonia, the rail connection with Sofia via Corridor VIII is ensured by the modernization of existing sections and the construction of new sections. It should be noted that Corridor VIII in North Macedonia crosses the country on an east-west axis through 300 km of lines, and of its entire length, only 50% are operational lines, the rest being in various phases for the implementation of construction and modernization projects.
It is being rehabilitated in several stages (by sections) with a total length of 88 km, including Kumanovo – Beljakovce (phase I) with a length of 30.8 km, which was opened to traffic at the beginning of this year; the Beljakovce – Kriva Palanka section (phase II) of 34 km under construction with an estimated commissioning date in October 2026; and Kriva Palanka – Deve Bair – Bulgarian border (phase III) with a length of 23.4 km.
The rail connection between Sofia and Skopje has been included for funding in the Connecting Europe Facility for the period 2028–2034, “thanks to Bulgaria’s sustained efforts (…) and represents a guarantee for the complete completion of Corridor VIII on Bulgarian territory,” said the Minister of Transport after a meeting with officials in Brussels. The official also mentioned that “despite our common ambitions, the TEN-T network too often functions as a collection of national projects rather than a unified European system,” and it is necessary to establish “synchronized deadlines for all cross-border projects, because progress on one side of the border should not be blocked by stagnation on the other side.”
In December 2023, the European Union announced a EUR 560 million financial package through the Team Europe program. This amount includes a EUR 175 million loan from the EIB and a loan of the same amount from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. These loans are complemented by a EUR 150 million grant from the European Union, provided through the Western Balkans Investment Facility (WBIF), as well as a grant of up to EUR 60 million from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). The project is part of Global Gateway, the European Union’s strategy to reduce the global investment gap in critical infrastructure.
The benefits of the Sofia–Skopje railway project are significant and aim to modernize regional mobility as a whole. The new link will considerably reduce travel time between the two capitals, facilitating travel, economic exchanges, and cross-border cooperation. At the same time, the project will increase rail freight capacity, providing a more efficient and safer alternative for logistics flows. Another major advantage is the substantial reduction in CO₂ emissions by transferring a significant part of road traffic to rail, thus contributing to decarbonization objectives and sustainable transport in the region.
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