Didymoteicho railway station ( el, Σιδηροδρομικός Σταθμός Διδυμότειχο, Sidirodromikós stathmós Didimòteicho) is a
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
that serves the town of
Didymoteicho
Didymoteicho ( el, Διδυμότειχο, Didymóteicho ) is a city located on the eastern edge of the Evros regional unit of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, in northeastern Greece. It is the seat of the municipality of the same name. The town ...
,
Evros in
Eastern Macedonia and Thrace
Eastern Macedonia and Thrace ( el, Ανατολική Μακεδονία και Θράκη, translit=Anatolikí Makedonía ke Thráki, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It consists of the northeastern parts of the coun ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
. Located northeast of the town centre, the station was opened in 1870 by 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 ...
, (now part of
OSE). Today
TrainOSE
Hellenic Train S.A., formerly TrainOSE S.A. ( el, ΤραινΟΣΕ Α.Ε., pronounced ''trenosé'') is a private railway company in Greece which currently operates passenger and freight trains on OSE lines. TrainOSE was acquired in September 201 ...
operates just 4 daily Regional trains to
Alexandroupoli
Alexandroupolis ( el, Αλεξανδρούπολη, ), Alexandroupoli, or Alexandrople is a city in Greece and the capital of the Evros regional unit. It is the largest city in Western Thrace and the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. It h ...
and
Ormenio
Ormenio ( el, Ορμένιο, tr, Çirmen, bg, Черномен, Chernomen) is the northernmost place in all of Greece. It is part of the municipal unit of Trigono in the Evros regional unit of Thrace. It is situated near the right bank of the r ...
. The station is unstaffed however there are waiting rooms available The station lies from Athens and from Thessaloniki.
History
The station lies on the line built by 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 ...
(CO), from Istanbul to
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
. The railway reached Didymoteicho, known as Demotika during Ottoman rule. In 1873, when the line from Istanbul to
Edirne
Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...
and Bulgaria was opened. A branch from Pythio to
Alexandroupoli
Alexandroupolis ( el, Αλεξανδρούπολη, ), Alexandroupoli, or Alexandrople is a city in Greece and the capital of the Evros regional unit. It is the largest city in Western Thrace and the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. It h ...
(then known as Dedeağaç) was opened in 1874. When the railway was built, it was all within 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) ...
. After
World War I
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 ...
and the subsequent
Greek-Turkish War from 1919 to 1922, and finally peace in the form of the
Lausanne treaty
The Treaty of Lausanne (french: Traité de Lausanne) was a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–23 and signed in the Palais de Rumine, Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially settled the conflic ...
, 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 ...
(CO) ended up having a network straddling
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
and
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
, Didymoteicho became part of Greece and the line administrated by Greece.
In 1920s, the station became part Franco-Hellenic railway. On 31 December 1970 Hellenic State Railways ceased to exist, the next day all railways in Greece (with the exception of private industrial lines and E.I.S.) were transferred to
Hellenic Railways Organisation S.A., a state-owned corporation. In 1986 was created the new railway station of Didymoteicho, was nearby the old station.
In 2009, with the
Greek debt crisis
Greece faced a sovereign debt crisis in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007–2008. Widely known in the country as The Crisis (Greek: Η Κρίση), it reached the populace as a series of sudden reforms and austerity measures that le ...
unfolding
OSE's Management was forced to reduce services across the network. Timetables were cut back, and routes closed as the government-run entity attempted to reduce overheads. Services from Orestiada to Alexandroupoli were cut back to three trains a day, reducing the reliability of services and passenger numbers.
On 13 February 2011, all international services were suspended due to the
Greek financial crisis
Greece faced a sovereign debt crisis in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007–2008. Widely known in the country as The Crisis (Greek: Η Κρίση), it reached the populace as a series of sudden reforms and austerity measures that le ...
and subsequent budget cuts by the Greek government. As a result, all cross border routes were closed and international services (to Istanbul, Sofia, etc.) ended.
Thus, only two routes now connect Didymoteicho with Thessaloniki and Athens (and those with a connection to Alex / Polis), while route time increased as the network was "upgraded".
The Greek writer and economist
Konstantinos Triantaphyllakis visited the station in his youth to watch the train and the musical antics of the station master.
The old train station building feature as a Print Designed by Hercules Milas
Facilities
The original station buildings are a beautiful example of late 19th-century railway architecture, but rundown and almost abandoned. A new station complex was built in 1970s adjacent to the original structure, with a ticket office and waiting rooms. As of (2020) the station is unstaffed.
Services
, Didymoteicho is only serviced by four daily pairs of Regional trains Alexandroupoli–Ormenio, two of which are express services.
Between July 2005 and February 2011
the
Friendship Express
The Friendship Express ( tr, Dostluk Ekspresi, el, Εξπρές Φιλίας, ''Exprés Filías''), was an international InterCity train jointly operated by the Turkish State Railways (TCDD) and TrainOSE from July 2005 to February 2011, linking ...
(an international
InterCity
InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...
train jointly operated by the
Turkish State Railways
The State Railways of the Republic of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devlet Demiryolları), abbreviated as TCDD, is a government-owned national railway company responsible with the ownership and maintenance of railway infrastructure in Turkey ...
(TCDD) and
TrainOSE
Hellenic Train S.A., formerly TrainOSE S.A. ( el, ΤραινΟΣΕ Α.Ε., pronounced ''trenosé'') is a private railway company in Greece which currently operates passenger and freight trains on OSE lines. TrainOSE was acquired in September 201 ...
linking
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
's
Sirkeci Terminal
Sirkeci railway station ( tr, Sirkeci garı), listed on maps as Istanbul railway station ( tr, İstanbul garı), is a railway terminal in Istanbul, Turkey. The terminal is located in Sirkeci, on the tip of Istanbul's historic peninsula, right ne ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
and
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 ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
) passed through Didymoteicho, but did not call at the station.
Station layout
Gallery
File:Σιδηροδρομικός Σταθμός Διδυμοτείχου.jpg, Didymoteicho new railway station new building and platform 1, 2018
References
{{Reflist
Railway stations in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace
Railway stations opened in the 1870s
Buildings and structures in Evros (regional unit)