The city, around the railway. You can make a state. Hundreds of thousands of dollars. Moreover, thousands of thousands – Once Upon a Time in the Wild West.
Cyprus State Railway. Visitors to North Cyprus will find that there is no railway, no metro, no trams. And tourists have to move only on:
- rented car
- by minibuses (Dolmuş)
- or by taxi
Did you know that there was a railway in Cyprus? The Cyprus Railway was a narrow-gauge railway track. It operated from October 1905 to December 1951 and was called the Cyprus State Railway (CGR). In total, the 37-mile route from Famagusta to Evrychou (South Cyprus) had 39 stations, stops and halts.
Name of stations
- Famagusta Port
- FAMOUS
- Enkomi (Tuzla)
- Stylos (Happy)
- Gaidhour (Korkuteli)
- Prastion (Dortyol)
- Pyrga (Pirhan)
- Yenagra (Calendula)
- Vitsada (Pinarli)
- Mousoulit A (Ulukışla)
- Angast to (Aslanköy)
- Exometohi (Düzova)
- Epicho (Cihangir)
- Trakhoni (Demirhan)
- Mia Milia (Haspolat)
- Kaimakli – (Creamy)
- NICOSIA
- Yerolakko (Alaykoy)
- a Trimithi
- Dheni to
- Avlona (Gayretköy)
- Peristerona
- Katokopi A (Katokopia)
- Argakhi (Akcay)
- OMORFO (Guzelyurt)
- Nikita (Sun)
- Kaziver A (Gaziveren)
- Pentagia (Yesilyurt)
- Camlikoy LEFKE
- Agios Nikolaos
- FLAU
- EVRYCHOU – 760
Four (4) railway sections
- the original railway ran from the port of Famagusta to Nicosia
- Section II from Nicosia to Guzelyurt (Morphou) opened in 1907
- and sections III and IV were extensions of the railway from Guzelyurt to Evrychou, opened in 1915 and serving the Cyprus Mining Corporation (CMC)
Over the years, 12 steam locomotives were used on this line, all of them were made in England: “Hunslet Engine Company”, or “Nasmyth Wilson and Company”.
Coal for trains
An old mining train. Some of these trains can still be seen scattered all over the island, and the best-preserved locomotive is parked at Famagusta Station. The trains traveled at speeds of up to 30 mph and ran on coal brought from England through the port of Famagusta.
The railway network was used for various operations. For example, for passenger transportation. All stations were equipped with signs in three languages: Turkish, Greek and English. Passenger trains ran only twice a day, one in the morning and the other in the evening. The island’s government used the railway to transport mail, timber from the Troodos Mountains and cargo from the port of Famagusta. Trains also carried minerals (iron ore, etc.).
Government of Cyprus
Unfortunately, the railway was very expensive to operate and never made a profit due to the fact that maintenance costs were very high. This was due to the heavy Cypriot rains in winter, which constantly damaged the bridge sections of the lines. And at that time, cars were only becoming more popular from year to year. The Cypriot government made the decision to close the line after World War II, when the last train left Nicosia station for Famagusta on December 31, 1951. Part of the lines in the Lefke area and in the south continued to operate until 1974. In its amazing 46-year history, the Cyprus railway line has transported more than 7 million passengers and 3 million tons of goods and minerals.
After the closure, it took more than a year to dismantle the railway tracks. And 10 of the 12 locomotives were auctioned off and bought by Meyer Newman & Co. The other two locomotives remained on the island, one in Famagusta and the other in Denizli. If there are several cases when obsolete and decommissioned trains were bought by local residents of storage (warehouses) or for shows.
The railway stations themselves were either demolished or turned into police stations or warehouses. But one is very well preserved and to this day functions as a museum in Southern Cyprus.
The museum houses a restored wagon, which is under a canopy with an original hand-operated trolley. Also, there are 100 meters of railway track and a stand with information about the old railway. Museum opening hours:
- Winter (16 September – 15 April): Monday – Sunday 08:30-16:00
- summer (16 April – 15 September): Monday – Sunday 9:30-17:00Phone: +357 229 33 010 (free admission)
Parting words
Maybe one day in Cyprus (South or North) there will be an investor who wants to restore history and restart the trains. Honestly, I really want to ride in the trailer and feel the story for myself… Ride a train and plunge into the far, far past. Well, if you want to come and arrange your life here, welcome to Northern Cyprus. Our company “Veles Enterprises” is professionally engaged in tourism, migration, sale of real estate in the TRNC, as well as the preparation of all kinds of documents. We will be glad to welcome you to the coziest island in the Mediterranean!
Property Managers
If you want to buy an apartment or villa on the Mediterranean Sea, then you can look through our entire database yourself. We have a large number of author’s real estate in North Cyprus for every taste and budget. Contacts of managers:
- Philip Babenko +90 533 840 3183
- Irina Chekaleva +90 533 852 0549
- Yulia Rogulskaya +90 533 856 9449
- Orhan Atasoy +90 533 840 0175
- Feyweh Olatunde +90 548 888 33 48
Source: Veles Enterprises Article prepared by: Valerii Veles
If you have any questions regarding a residence permit, buying air tickets. As well as questions about apostilled powers of attorney, please contact Veles Property. Our contact phone numbers: 0533 826 0449 (Diana), 0533 840 4838 (Vera), 0533 833 3398 (Irina)
