Forlorn and Forgotten Rail Line? You'd be surprised!

GuesterTester120 - Sent in by a regular reader, this rail infrastructure somewhere in a CEE/SEE capital city is actually THE main line into the city, and is even used by international trains.

Photo: This is taken about 1 km from the final station on this international rail route: where is it?

In the last few weeks, Hungarian State Railway MÁV has been on the receiving end of considerable criticism, with allegations of late-running trains, lack of air-conditioning (in a seemingly eternal heatwave) and poor quality track.

And early last week an international train derailed at Keleti station. It was a slow-speed accident, with nobody injured, but it closed Keleti for a day or so while the mess was cleared up.

But for all its woes, MÁV's trackwork that is in regular passenger use is usually in better nick than the stretch shown in this piccie.

So where could it be? I think a guess might do it! (I do have an extra clue up my sleeve if nobody can get the answer.)

Answers via an email or the site messaging system, please, and kindly put KT120 into the subject line so we don't miss your entry!

KT119 is still open for answers if you get any orientation inspiration - I'll put up an answer sometime next week.

Happy Sleuthing!

UPDATE – Contestants and Celebrated WINNER!

Profuse apologies for the long, delay over this Tester, which is officially a GuesterTester as the piccie was sent in by Steven Fisher.

It proved quite a challenge. I hope I've located all the entries – I'm sure I made a list, but appear to have deleted it, and have had to go through all the emails again.

Former master sleuther Tom Chilton grunted something about no decent clues, not even readable car plates, and said it could be anywhere, which he later narrowed down to 'anywhere in former communist Europe'.

'Fraid there is no global celebrity status on hand for that 'answer' Tom.

In contrast, Alan Sutton was not challenged by the lack of obvious clues. He swooped in to say, fully confident:

“Dear Kester Pristina. [Kosovo]

I went there for an England match, leaving by train the next day.

There was one train a day, at 7.15 a.m. I was the first passenger to arrive out of a total of 3, at about 6.45, and the stationmaster called me in to drink home-made vodka with him.

"International" is stretching it a bit. The train (a battered old DB coach behind a battered old Norwegian loco) was timetabled as going to Skopje, but actually only went as far as the border, from where we had to complete the journey by taxi.

The train did actually fill up a lot more at a station outside the centre. I believe even that daily train no longer runs (scroll down to Kosovo and North Macedonia)

How to travel by train from London to Serbia, Macedonia & Kosovo”

Albyn Austin pondered and wrote:

"It looks a fairly westernised part of eastern europe - Slovakia perhaps?  Also a big city - Bratislava perhaps - a pure guess,

regards, Albyn"

Laszlo Jakabfi thought it might be quite local to Budapest.

"Hi Kester! I wonder if it is not the line leading to Esztergom and back to the Nyugati railway station. I am not 100% sure, but it is a guess. Laszlo" 

Hubert “Poirot” Warsmann answered on the website system:

“KT 120 Hi Kester,

challenging one, few clues in there, small country, orthodox and what looks like a soviet past, Chisinau maybe?”

That's the capital of Moldova, for readers not too sure of the regional geography.

Next in was Misi "I'll give it a go" Hollós:

“KT120 Hello Kester, That certain railway line. Well, it’s Sarajevo , Bosnia-Herzegovina (or Podgorica, capital of Montenegro), I guess.

Yes, guessing is the nearest I have come to an answer. Both cities in former Yugoslavia, of course.

Best, Misi”

But Misi, you can't leave it as two guesses! The Competition Committee simply won't stand for that – it's not really fair, is it?

I confess, all the above entries are decent guesses, although Bratislava is in a wee bit better nick than what is in this pic, Albyn. Actually, if you can sit on the south side of the train coming in from the east, you get a rather splendid view of the capital of Slovakia.

I too took a look at Pristina station when there in 2010, and I would agree with Alan – it was a rather decrepit site. And I doubt Sarajevo is much better.

However Hubert “Poirot” Warsmann has struck gold here – it is indeed the rail line heading into Chisinau, the capital of Moldova.

Steven Fisher tells me: “This is the line in from the north (ie Iasi, Romania) about 1 km from the station (where classical music plays over crackly tannoys as the Bucharest train prepares to depart).”

He even sent in some additional photos to go with this - see below - a little bit less forlorn looking than 1 km out, I suppose, but not exactly inviting. (Nothing to do with Moldovans as a people, of course.)

It is also, of course, the same station featured (via a screen shot) in an earlier post – namely KesterTester74, published way back in May, 2022.

https://www.perspectives-budapest.com/post/the-party-train-with-a-political-message-kestertester74

(I hope the photos download for you – they don't for me for some reason today.)

Something tells me that the music they play at Chisinau station is not the one that features in the “Party Train” tester, however.

And, ironically, guess who won that Tester?

Anyway, congratulations to Hubert “Poirot” Warsmann on his success here – he's a man who knows a thing or two about global fame having won a few Testers through the years, of course.

KT121 is still open for entries – feel free to sleuth over that one with a cup of coffee in your break one day this week!