The Edirne Cut-off is a 80 km (49.7 mi) long rail line from Pehlivanköy

Pehlivanköy

Pehlivanköy is a town and district of Kırklareli Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. The mayor is Hüseyin Açıkel . The population is 2,007 as of 2010.-External links:* *...

, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 to Svilengrad

Svilengrad

Svilengrad is a town in Haskovo Province, South-central Bulgaria, situated at the border of Turkey and Greece. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Svilengrad Municipality. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 18,132 inhabitants....

, Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

. The line was built in 1971 by the Turkish State Railways

Turkish State Railways

The State Railways of the Turkish Republic or TCDD is the government owned, national railway carrier in the Republic of Turkey, headquartered in Ankara...

 in order to avoid crossing the border with Greece, on the former Oriental Railway's main line, in order to get to Edirne

Edirne

Edirne is a city in Eastern Thrace, the northwestern part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1365 to 1453, before Constantinople became the empire's new capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of the Edirne...

. The Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE) also built a cut-off from Neo Vyssa to Marasia in the same year. These two new rail lines lead to the abandonment of the former CO main line in Edirne as well as the Karaağaç Railway Station

Karaağaç Railway Station

The Karaağaç Railway Station , or before 1971 the Edirne Railway Station was the name of the former railway station in Edirne, located south-west of the city.-History:...

.