North Macedonia has inaugurated the rehabilitated 30-kilometre railway section between Kumanovo and Bialakovtse, BalkanEngineer.com has learned from BTA. The section is part of the pan-European Corridor VIII that connects the country with Bulgaria. The project, worth more than 78 million euro, is funded by the European Union (EU) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and includes three new stations, six stops, five bridges and a tunnel.

The Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Hristian Mitkoski, said that the second section, Beljakovce - Kriva Palanka, will be completed on schedule, while the tender procedure for the third stage to the Bulgarian border is pending.
Corridor VIII is a strategic project that connects the Italian port of Bari with the Bulgarian ports of Varna and Burgas via North Macedonia. The EU has already invested more than 500 million euro in infrastructure projects in the country for economic progress and regional integration.
With the opening of the Kumanovo-Beliakovtse section, North Macedonia is taking a step forward towards an active rail link with Bulgaria, after a gap of nearly three decades.

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