About this journey

Dobriniste station sits at the southern end of Bulgaria's most extraordinary rural railway, Второстепенна железопътна линия 16 — the only operating 760 mm narrow-gauge line in the country. The BDŽ class 75 diesel locomotive at the head of the train was delivered from Henschel AG in 1965 or 1966, one of ten that remain in service on this line today.

Construction of the 125 km route unfolded in several stages between 1921 and 1945, driven by a special law passed in May 1920 to open up the remote Nevrokop region. The final stretch into Dobriniste was completed on 9 December 1945. As the line heads north from Dobriniste toward Bansko and then Yakoruda, the engineering challenges become steadily more dramatic: the middle section between Velingrad and Yakoruda concentrates all four spirals and 25 tunnels, with the train changing direction six times. In that section the line passes under itself twice — through tunnels Nr 18 and Nr 24 — while gradients reach a maximum of 32 ‰ on the climb toward Kostandovo station at 801 m. Avramovo station, at 1,267 m above sea level, is the highest railway station in the Balkans. The line is known as the Alpine railway in the Balkans, threading the valleys and gorges between the Rila, Pirin and Rhodopes ranges before descending to its northern terminus at Septemvri.