Resident of Florina and member of the local Friends of the Train Movement. She used to take the train to Thessaloniki, where her daughter now studies.
I grew up in Florina. I'm not sure when I first took the train. I remember in sixth grade, when I needed glasses and went to Thessaloniki. I don’t know if I had taken it before, but that’s my earliest memory.
As a child, I also remember a steam train that came all the way to my village, which is on the border with North Macedonia. It used to go to the nearest village, where people used to get off to shop — they would buy lots of things and then come back on the train. It would sit there for about fifteen minutes with the coals still burning. I don’t know how people managed to shop and get back on.
I was born in 1959. When the steam train stopped running, I must have been six or seven — so maybe around 1970, though I could be wrong. But I remember it sitting there in the village, going “chuff chuff chuff”, with the steam coming out. It had its delays too — that’s probably how people had time to shop.
As I grew older, I kept travelling by train. First for tutoring I was doing in Thessaloniki, then during my studies I went back and forth by train, and later when I started working, I still used the train constantly. There were buses too, but I would choose the train. Most people preferred it.
I found it friendlier, nicer, more comfortable than being stuck in two seats, one behind the other, unable to move. And the journey itself was much nicer. It had that quality that many people –not just me– associate with train travel.
My daughter used it too, from her third year of high school, when she went to Thessaloniki every Saturday for design classes. She would leave at six in the morning and come back in the afternoon. And later as a student, she used it constantly.
Back then, tickets were much cheaper than the bus. As a student, I don’t remember if there was a difference, but in recent years trains were much more affordable.
Now the local train has stopped running. And I don’t use the other one anymore. When I needed to go to Athens, I took the bus. I don't know how those who still take the train manage. If I got on a train, I would leave with a huge fear of whether I would actually make it. Because things clearly aren't safe. That’s what I understand now
I mean, why don’t they just wait? They could suspend the train for a while, make the infrastructure and the trains safe, and then people could get on. As things stand, I’m afraid to board. If I see things being done… If I see that we’re moving towards safety, I’ll get back on. But right now, I don’t see anything happening.
Nowadays, I go either by car –with my husband driving, because I only drive within the city– or by bus. Last year, when I had to stay in Thessaloniki for about a year due to a health issue, I went back and forth by bus, even though I felt squashed the whole time, even when it wasn't full, because when it’s full you can’t move at all. But when you need to travel, what can you do? Not use it?