From the centre of Skopje to the airport terminal in Petrovec in eight to eleven minutes, by train. Construction of the fast rail link is due to begin in spring, announced Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski.

The first section will connect the New Railway Station and the airport terminal. The project is part of a broader plan to develop Skopje's urban rail transport, following the recent launch of the first city train line.

Two further lines are planned: one via Avtokomanda, Madzhari, Chento and Ilinden to Agino Selo, and another from Volkovo via Gjorche Petrov, Skopje North and Butel to the New Railway Station. A new stop is also planned near the "11 Oktomvri - baraki" neighbourhood in Kisela Voda, along with aligning the timetable with the city bus lines and installing bicycle stands.

The rolling stock is being modernised in parallel. Five electric locomotives are being procured through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to electrify freight traffic, and with World Bank support the purchase of four to six passenger trains with dedicated space for bicycles and pets is being finalised.

Eight minutes, and all the eight minutes before them

The idea is a good one and there is no need for irony about it. A direct rail link to the airport is standard in almost every European capital, and this year Skopje finally got its first city train - to reactions that, according to Nikoloski, are excellent.

But a Skopje-Petrovec link is not a new idea. It has been announced for years, in different versions, by different ministers. What is new is the word "spring", and that is the word that will be tested.

Because the difference between this project and the previous announcements will not be in how long the ride takes, but in whether anyone actually breaks ground in spring. Eight to eleven minutes is a figure that sounds great on television. The question is how many years from announcement to first train - and the track record of Macedonian railways there is not encouraging.

There is also a practical detail that will decide whether the line makes sense: how often it runs. A train every fifteen minutes changes a commuter's habits. A train every two hours is a tourist attraction, not transport. No timetable has been published so far, and that is precisely what separates infrastructure from a photograph with a ribbon.