By Pierre Kosmidis

Photos © Vasileios Kapantais, submitted to www.ww2wrecks.com and used by permission

Bralos Railway Station is a railway station in the village of Bralos, Fthiotida Prefecture.

The station opened in 1905 and closed on 10 February 2018, due to the construction of the new Athens – Thessaloniki high-speed railroad line, in the Tithorea-Lianokladi section. It reopened in July 2018.

Bralos Station control room, a museum in itself.

The station was called Gravia station from 1939 to 1949.

Station in the auxiliary tracks of Bralos Station, a relic of the past.

It is located at an altitude of 361 meters, the highest point of an active railway station on the old Piraeus – Thessaloniki railway axis.

Its strategic location made it necessary to fortify the station, as it was a vital railroad connection from Thessaloniki to Athens during World War 2 and the Greek Civil War 1946-49.

According to respected researcher Mr. Vasileios Kapantais, from Greece, this fortified position, consisting of a bunker, military barracks of the station’s guards and other buildings is now in private property and used as a shed for agricultural tools and equipment.

The watchtower on top of the bunker. Note the semi circular bunker overlooking the station and the adjacent building.

The watchtower on top of the bunker, as well as other buildings were probably built during the Greek Civil War, 1946-1949.