Septemvri-Dobrinishte narrow gauge line | |
---|---|
0.0 Septemvri | |
4.0 Pamporovo | |
6.0 Varvara | |
10.0 Marko Nikolov | |
14.0 Tsepina | |
21.0 Dolene | |
32.0 Kostandovo | |
38.8 Velingrad | |
41.7 Velingrad South | |
50.0 Ostrets | |
55.0 Tsvetino | |
59.0 Sveta Petka | |
69.0 Avramovo | |
74.0 Smolevo | |
80.0 Cherna Mesta | |
86.0 Yakoruda | |
95.0 Yurukovo | |
97.0 Dagonovo | |
101.0 Belitsa | |
105.0 General Kovachev | |
110.0 Guliyna Banya | |
115.0 Razlog | |
119.0 Bansko | |
125.0 Dobrinishte |
The Septemvri–Dobrinishte narrow gauge line (Bulgarian: теснолинейка Септември — Добринище, tesnolineyka Septemvri — Dobrinishte) is the only operating narrow gauge (gauge 760 mm) line in Bulgaria. It is operated by the Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ). The line is actively used with nine trains runnng per day. The journey takes over four hours. The current plan can be found on the website of Bulgarian State Railways Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ).
The route leads from Septemvri (the main road Sofia - Plovdiv) to Dobrinishte over Velingrad, Yakoruda, Razlog and Bansko, linking the western part of the Upper Thracian Plain with the Western Rhodopes, Rila and Pirin mountains. Due to the characteristics of the route through the mountains, the narrow gauge line Septemvri-Dobrinishte is also known as the Alpine railway in the Balkans. Avramovo station, situated at an altitude of 1267 meters, is the highest station in the Balkans. The railway line was built in several stages between 1921 and 1945. The total length is 125 km. The part of the route between Pazardzhik and Varvara, which was closed in 2002, is 16.6 km long.