It is a railway company operating in Cyprus between 1905-1951 under the name of Cyprus Government Railway Company. He worked along the line between Evrihu village of Lefke and the city of Famagusta. Throughout its active years, it carried a total of 3.199.934 tons of cargo and 7.348.643 passengers.
Its construction started in 1904 and after the opening of the Nicosia-Famagusta section, the first leg of the line, was made by British High Commissioner Sir Charles Anthony King-Harman, he made his first voyage from Famagusta to Nicosia on 21 October 1905. In the same year, the work of the Nicosia Omorfo line started and this section was completed within two years. Finally, the work of the Omorfo Evrihu line started in 1913 and the line was completed in 1915 when this section became operational.
The purpose of construction is the transportation of vegetables, fruits produced around the town of Omorfo (Güzelyurt) and copper ore extracted from Lefke town to the port of Larnaca. For this purpose, the Omorfo-Larnaca line was first considered. But later on, some of the prominent people from Larnaca claimed that the railroad would weaken trade with camels and that the camelers would suffer from it, and opposed this line, the last stop of the line was shifted from Larnaca to Famagusta.
Rail financing of £ 127,468 (Pound) was provided by a loan under the Colonial Loans Act of 1899, and the line was basically built by a subcontractor contract.
Railway Line Information
The total length of the line is 76mil (122 km), the rail span is 2 feet 6 inches (76,2 cm). There were pedestrians at four main stations. The slope of the line was 100 in 1 between Famagusta Nicosia and 60 in 1 between Nicosia Omorfo.
There were about 30 stations along the line, especially Evrihu, Omorfo (Güzelyurt), Nicosia and Famagusta. Station names were written in Turkish (Ottoman Turkish), Greek and English. Some of these stations were also used as post and telegraph agencies. The train took the distance between Nicosia and Famagusta in about 30 hours, with an average speed of 48 mph (approx. 2 km / h). The travel time of the whole line was 4 hours.
Stations and Distances
- 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
This information belongs to the line in 1912 and since the line from Omorfo to EVRYCHOU was opened later, station distance information of that line is not in this list.
Closing the Railway Line and the Last Time
The decision was made by the British colonial administration to end rail routes due to improved land transport, reduced demand for rail and economic reasons. With this decision taken in 1951, Cyprus' 48-year railway adventure has ended. His last flight ended at Famagusta Station on December 31, 1951 at 14:57 with the trip from Nicosia to Famagusta.
About 200 workers and civil servants employed by the company were transferred to semi-official institutions.
Railway Line Today
After the rail service was stopped, the British colonial administration sold all the rails and locomotives on the line and was sold for £ 65.626 to a company called Meyer Newman & Co. For this reason, there are no parts left from the rails of the line.
Güzelyurt, Nicosia and Famagusta station buildings, which are within the borders of Northern Cyprus, are still standing and are open to service in different areas. EVRYCHOU Station, on the other hand, is on the territory under the control of the Greek Cypriot State, and it also serves for other purposes. As two of the 12 locomotives used by the company; The locomotive number 1 is located in the garden of the Famagusta Land Registry Office, and the locomotive number 2 is in the Güzelyurt Festival Park.
EVRYCHOU Station, which also has copper mines, is still available even today.
Be the first to comment