Paphos Life

The transport of goods and passengers is, and will always be, a burning question, no matter where. Satisfactory answers, sometimes very good, can be found in many countries, such as Japan, France, Germany and elsewhere. There are two countries which currently have no infrastructure for high-speed that affect us, the UK and Cyprus. It must be emphasised that a potential or real project is variable, depending on the size of the country. As an illustration, I'll briefly introduce some of the issues into two very contrasting situations, Cyprus and the UK. The one thing in common between the two countries is that they are floundering towards the non-solution of their problems.

The UK has no valid plan to implement high-speed rail structure and is currently floundering in implementing the medium speed HS2 project, 40 years too late as is shown by countries that have already a 300 km/hour system fully operational. The UK is only at the planning stage of a half baked system that cannot even connect between two capital cities but is nevertheless costing more than the country can afford.

In contrast, Cyprus has no plans. The powers that be seem to consider that if you build more roads, and still more roads, slowly-slowly, the country will flourish. I don't think so – it will hobble along just sufficiently to meet yesterday's demands. The real solution must be 130 km/h rail linking Nicosia, Larnaca and Limassol – branches to Paphos and Ayia Napa in the second phase.

I can never see that happening and neither can I see a need for it

Yes, Cyprus would definitely benefit from a train system. Ideally you'd be able to get from Polis to Paralimni by rail. Tram systems in Nicosia and the three towns could be integrated with the trains. I believe the government has mooted the idea in the past and looked into EU funding.

Will it ever happen? Almost certainly not. It's much easier to just pour concrete.

A friend from the UK booked to visit Cyprus and arranged a flight to Larnaca. Unfortunately we were unable to collect her from the airport. She said "not to worry, I can get the train" and was amazed to hear that Cyprus doesn't have a railway system.

Would a railway system be economically viable in a small country like Cyprus? I have my doubts there would be sufficient demand to operate it at reasonable cost.

There was a railway back in the 40s or 50s. It never got as far as Paphos, and terminated it's western end in Morphou. To build one now, given the cypriot terrain, would cost hundreds of billions.

http://bnellis.eu/cyprus/cyrail.html

Please read the above link, although it was written almost 10 years ago.

As for the old railway, its original purpose was to carry ore from the mines in the Troodos area to the seaport. A year or two later, it was extended to Morphou, essentially for the orange crop. Passenger traffic was also added, mainly used by farmers taking livestock for sale. It was very primitive in its infrastructure and usage, with a "stop me and buy one' type of attitude. It stopped operations the year before I came here.