Bitola railway station ( mk, Железничка станица во Битола, Železnička stanica vo Bitola) is the railway station of

Bitola Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki ...

Pelagonia Pelagonia ( mk, Пелагонија, Pelagonija; el, Πελαγονíα, Pelagonía) is a geographical region of Macedonia named after the ancient kingdom. Ancient Pelagonia roughly corresponded to the present-day municipalities of Bitola, Pri ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

History

The station opened in 1891, in what was then the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

at the completion of the first section of the Société du Chemin de Fer ottoman Salonique-Monastir, a

branchline A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industri ...

of the

Chemins de fer Orientaux The Chemins de fer Orientaux (English: ''Oriental Railway''; Turkish: ''Rumeli Demiryolu'' or ''İstanbul-Viyana Demiryolu'') (reporting mark: CO) was an Ottoman railway company operating in Rumelia (the European part of the Ottoman Empire, c ...

from

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

. During this period

and the southern Balkans were still under

Ottoman rule Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to: Governments and dynasties * Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924 * Ottoman Empire, in existence fro ...

and Bitola was known as Monastir. Later, the line to Prilep and Veles was built. Bitola was annexed by

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

on 18 October 1912 during the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

. On 17 October 1925 The Yugoslavian government purchased the Yugoslav sections of the former Salonica Monastir railway and the railway became part of the

Yugoslav Railways Yugoslav Railways ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslavenske željeznice/Jugoslovenske železnice, Југославенске жељезнице/Југословенске железнице; mk, Југословенски железници; sl, Jugoslovans ...

, with the remaining section south of

seeded to the

Hellenic State Railways Hellenic State Railways or SEK ( el, Σιδηρόδρομοι Ελληνικού Κράτους, ''Sidirodromi Ellinikou Kratous''; Σ.Ε.Κ.) was a Greek public sector entity (legal person of public law, el, Ν.Π.Δ.Δ.) which was established in ...

. In 1911 Sultan Mehmed V Rashad arrived by train from

to Edessa by the railway station in Bitola. The line to Thessaloniki was closed to traffic in 1984. In 2017 the station was upgraded, the roof was replaced, and new thermal insulation installed, as well as with ramps and a newly refurbished booking hall. The memorial plaque from 1960, making the 1920 railway workers strike was kept.

Services

The station is currently located on Branch D section of the Pan-European corridor X. The station is served by trains to/from Skopje. There are no services to

Future

In 2015 plans were announced to reconnected the neglected Macedonian section of the line. By 2019 Plans are in place to reconnect the disused sections of the line and recommence through services to Greece. However (as of 2020) no trains are running on the upgraded track. Railway service between Bitola and

Florina Florina ( el, Φλώρινα, ''Flórina''; known also by some alternative names) is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. The town of Florina is the capital of the F ...

is set to resume in November 2022.

Gallery

File:Bitolya IWW Train Station.JPG, The Station building, and approaches during the

First World war World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. File:Bitola train station (2018).jpg, The Station building, October 2018 File:Bitola train station - Plaque (2018).jpg, The Station building, October 2018. File:Bitola train station 3 (2018).jpg, The station approaches, October 2018. File:Kolodvor BT.JPG, The Station building, August 2007 File:Nusić, Kushaković, Bojković in Bitola.jpg,

Branislav Nušić Branislav Nušić ( sr-cyr, Бранислав Нушић, ; – 19 January 1938) was a Serbian playwright, satirist, essayist, novelist and founder of modern rhetoric in Serbia. He also worked as a journalist and a civil servant. Life Bra ...

, second from left, Kushakovikj, a Minister in Spain (first) and General

Ilija Gojković Ilija Gojković (Serbian Cyrillic: Илија Гојковић; 2 August 1854 – 15 February 1917) was a Serbian military commander and Minister of Defence. He became well-known for commanding the Serbs in the east around Timok. He served during ...

taken at Bitola in 1912. File:Mehmed V Reshad vo Bitola, precek.jpg, Reception Sultan Mehmed V Reşâd at the train station 1911 File:Arrival of Bishop Ioakim in Bitolya 1903.jpg, Arrival of Bishop Ioakim in Bitolya 1903

References

{{Bitola

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

Railway stations opened in 1891 Buildings and structures in Bitola