The prospect of a railway line being constructed in Cyprus is not to be laughed at, European transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas said on Tuesday.

“Don’t laugh at [the idea of] trains,” he told journalists, adding, “a route which connects the [Larnaca] airport, Limassol, and Nicosia would be a positive development for Cyprus and its transport infrastructure, and the European Commission would be willing to offer support for such a project.

“I would not laugh about it at all. The Cypriot presidency of the Council of the European Union could be a good opportunity to discuss something like this,” he said.

Asked if the European Commission could provide financial support for the construction of such a railway line, he said that would “obviously” be possible.

Cyprus has been without a railway since 1951, when the final stretch of the original Cyprus Government Railway was closed by the island’s British colonial rulers.

The line had opened in 1905 and had stretched at its greatest extent, between 1915 and 1932, between the Troodos mountain village of Evrychou and the port of Famagusta, passing through Morphou and Nicosia on the way.

It had been primarily used to transfer freight inland from Famagusta, as well as transferring timber from the Troodos mountains across the island and carrying freight, ore, and minerals from the island’s mines.

However, it was never profitable and was closed in stages from 1932 onwards.

After 1932, the line’s western terminus was at the village of Kalo Chorio, near Lefka, and after 1948, it ran no further west than the original Nicosia airport.

The final train departed from Nicosia station for Famagusta on December 31, 1951, and the line itself was dismantled in 1952 and 1953.

The prospect of opening a new railway line in Cyprus had been floated in 2022 following a meeting of Cyprus’ then transport minister Yiannis Karousos and Tzitzikostas’ predecessor Adina Valean.

Karousos said at the time that “the studies exist” for the construction of a new railway line, and that “some very good preparatory work has been done”.

“We know that with a light railway we could link up the main cities of Cyprus and the airport,” he said, before adding that a railway would help ease traffic congestion.

He added that “based on the studies we have, [a railway] could be installed inside the current road network”.