Florina Railway Station

) is a railway station in Florina, a town in Western Macedonia, Greece. It is situated at the Greek terminus of the Thessaloniki–Bitola railway. It was opened in 1894, along with the line. It is served by local trains to Thessaloniki.

History

The station opened in 1894, along with the line in what was then the Ottoman Empire, by the Société du Chemin de Fer ottoman Salonique-Monastir, a branchline of the Chemins de fer Orientaux. During this period Northern Greece and the southern Balkans where still under Ottoman rule. In 1896 the Messonisi-Florina line was constructed to allow trains from Bitola to continue onwards to Thessaloniki without the need to reverse north of Mesonisi

Florina was annexed by Greece on 18 October 1912 during the First Balkan War. On 17 October 1925 The Greek government purchased the Greek sections of the former Salonica Monastir railway and the railway became part of the Hellenic State Railways, with the remaining section north of Florina seeded to Yugoslavia.

In 1970 OSE became the legal successor to the SEK, taking over responsibilities for most of Greece's rail infrastructure. On 1 January 1971, the station and most of the Greek rail infrastructure was transferred to the '' Hellenic Railways Organisation S.A.'', a state-owned corporation. Freight traffic declined sharply when the state-imposed monopoly of OSE for the transport of agricultural products and fertilisers ended in the early 1990s. Many small stations of the network with little passenger traffic were closed down. In 2001 the infrastructure element of OSE was created, known as GAIAOSE, it would henceforth be responsible for the maintenance of stations, bridges and other elements of the network, as well as the leasing and the sale of railway assists. In 2003, OSE launched "Proastiakos SA", as a subsidiary to serve the operation of the suburban network in the urban complex of Athens during the 2004 Olympic Games. In 2005, TrainOSE was created as a brand within OSE to concentrate on rail services and passenger interface.

In 2009, with the Greek debt crisis 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. In 2008, all Proastiakos were transferred from OSE to TrainOSE. the following year, in 2017 OSE's passenger transport sector was privatised as TrainOSE, currently a wholly owned subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane infrastructure, including stations, remained under the control of OSE.

Facilities

The station is staffed, but only in the early morning and later afternoon.https://florina.pdm.gov.gr/περιφερειακή-ενότητα-φλώρινας/συγκοινωνίες/δρομολόγια-τραινοσε/ There are toilets and parking onsite. Local and regional buses stop in the forecourt.

Services

The station is served by three local trains to Thessaloniki daily.https://florina.pdm.gov.gr/περιφερειακή-ενότητα-φλώρινας/συγκοινωνίες/δρομολόγια-τραινοσε/

Station layout

References

Railway stations opened in 1894
Railway stations in Central Macedonia

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