cyprus railway

[reynoldsjohn]

was there ever a proposal to lay a railway system the full length of cyprus

[Tock389]

I'm not sure if there was ever a plan to run a railway the full length, but there was a railway in existence before now.

It ran from the port of Famagusta, through Nicosia and almost reached Morphou-  it closed in December 1951.

[Narolines]

There was indeed a 2ft 6in gauge line that opened in 1905 from Famagusta to Nicosia, then was extended to Morphou and finally up to Evrykhou in the Troodos foothills, over 70 miles from Famagusta.  Various schemes were proposed for an island-wide network of railways, but none received serious consideration owing to the poverty of the island, the difficult terrain and the opposition of local camel-drivers and carters. The Cyprus Government Railway was progressively cut back and finally closed in 1951 in the face of developing motor transport competition.