The director of Macedonian Railways-Infrastructure, Siniša Ivanovski, admitted what every citizen who has ever ridden a Macedonian train already knows: "The tracks are in dire shape." But at the same time he promised that they will still be ready for a city train in September this year.

The plan is ambitious. Three lines will converge on the central railway station in Skopje: from Zelenikovo, from Gjorče Petrov and from Ilinden. The first line - Zelenikovo to the Transport Center, around 25 kilometers - is being rebuilt. Once finished, it should be able to hit 80 km/h.

The other two lines are the problem. "On these sections tracks exist, but unlike the Zelenikovo one, they have no traffic and are in very poor condition," Ivanovski says. Tenders for those projects were announced recently, with construction planned for late 2026 into 2027.

The reality behind the plan: the tracks are in dire shape, Ivanovski admits. And by September they should be back in service. That's either a massive engineering feat - or premature optimism. The question is whether it holds up to the test, or whether we'll see slipped dates in a few months, as is the norm for Macedonian infrastructure projects.

The historic Skopje railway station will also be rebuilt. UK-financed high-speed railway. The Faculty of Architecture is working on a design that will preserve the brutalist character. All of this sounds good on paper. The question is the actual deadlines. How many people are convinced the city train will start in September? How many believe it will start by the end of the year? Macedonia's infrastructure history is a book full of delayed chapters.