Alexandroupolis railway station

Alexandroupolis railway station or Alexandroupolis Port railway station (Greek: Σιδηροδρομικός Σταθμός Λιμένα Αλεξανδρούπολης, romanized: Sidirodromikos Stathmos Limena Alexandroupolis) is the main railway station of Alexandroupolis in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Greece. Built in the 1950s to combine the city's then-two stations, the current station is located in the city centre and acts as an interchange for services to Ormenio and Thessaloniki. Trains approaching from Thessaloniki must reverse for a few hundred meters to reach the station.

The central "French" station was opened in 1874, two years after the line from Alexandroupolis (then Dedeagac) to Istanbul via Edirne was completed. Built by the Chemins de fer Orientaux (CO), from Istanbul to Vienna. The railway reached Ftelia in 1873 when the line from Istanbul to Edirne and Bulgaria was opened. When the first station was built, the local rail network was self-contained within the Ottoman Empire. The "Poleos" Station would open later. Until 1909 there was no connection between the lines Istanbul–Alexandroupolis and Thessaloniki–Alexandroupolis (opened in 1896) at Alexandroupolis; a connection existed between Feres and Potamos (near current Avas). During World War I, the railway was an important link for moving troops and equipment, as the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria, and Austria-Hungary were all Central Allies. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, its remaining imperial possessions were divided. The sections from Alexandroupolis to Svilengrad, except for a short section of about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) in Turkey serving Edirne Karaagaç station and for 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) between the Greek border and Svilengrad station in Bulgaria come under the control of the French-Hellenic Railway Company (CFFH), a subsidiary of the CO, when the CFFH was incorporated in July 1929. Under the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923, a new border between Greece and Turkey was established at the Evros river, just east of Ftelia railway station, which had the result that the railway from Istanbul to Bulgaria entered Greece at Pythion, then re-entered Turkey at Edirne (Karaağaç railway station), re-entered Greece at Marasia, and finally entered Bulgaria between Ormenio and Svilengrad. This arrangement continued until 1971 when two new lines were opened. In Turkey, the Edirne Cut-off was opened to allow trains from Istanbul to Bulgaria to run through Edirne entirely on Turkish territory so that trains such as the Orient Express no longer passed through Ormenio. In Greece, a line was opened to allow trains from Pythion to Bulgaria to stay on Greek territory and avoid Edirne. In 1954 the CFFH was absorbed by the Hellenic State Railways. 29 April 1954 Alexandroupolis Railway Station was the setting for a formal visit by King Paul and then Prince Constantine. In 1958 the station was rebuilt in a more modern style. The following year, the station saw the arrival of German, the Patriarch of Serbia. In 1971, the Hellenic State Railways was reorganised into the OSE taking over responsibilities for most of Greece's rail infrastructure. In the 1990s, OSE introduced the InterCity service to the Alexandroupolis–Svilengrad line Which reduced travel times across the whole line. 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 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

TrainStation data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).