Railway Herald
The second phase of the reconstruction of Sofia Central station resulted in many of the Inter City trains heading north out of the capital starting and terminating at Sofia-Sever (Sofia North). During this period there was no connection from the carriage Depot to most of the tracks at Central station resulting in daily ECS moves taking the long way round to Sofia-Sever. This involved heading westbound through the main station on the Plovdiv main line as far as Kazichene and then taking the loop around the north of Sofia via Yana, Svetovrachane and Iliyantsi. This inconvenience continued for almost twelve months, a journey time of about one hour to cover the geographical distance of just a couple of miles. Eventually, by the beginning February 2025 the northern tracks through Sofia Central had been connected ending the requirement for these circuitous ECS moves. Class 44 SKODA No. 44-178 runs through Iliyantsi with the mid-afternoon ECS move conveying coaching stock that will form three separate northbound services during the early evening. Image recorded on 26th September 2024.
Stephen Ginn
