Thanks to the proposal for the construction of the railway and the continuing efforts of Stoyan Maltchankoff (1875–1920), a Member of Parliament from the region of Nevrokop, a teacher and a former voivode against the Ottoman empire, a special law about the narrow-gauge railway Sarambey (Septemvri) – Nevrokop (Gotse Delchev) was also adopted in three readings in May 1920 i.e. Law on Construction of the Sarambey–Ladzhene to Nevrokop Narrow Gauge Railway with Branches for the Village of Eli Dere – Tatar Pazardzhik, the Village of Batak and the Chehlyovo State Forest.

The railway was built in several stages between 1921 and 1945 with total length of 125 km (78 miles) but it reaches only until the town of Dobrinishte.

During the communism it was never continued until the town of Nevrokop (Gotse Delchev railway station) as originally planned.

Many normal and narrow-gauge lines had been built and proposals had been made for the construction of others for economic (exploitation of forests, natural resources, mines, etc.)

In an extensive article from February 2, 1920 in Mir newspaper (the People's Party newspaper), he had explained in details the difficult situation in the region of Nevrokop and the lack of railway infrastructure and communications, which hindered trade and efficient use of the rich natural resources in the region such as the virgin coniferous forests on the western slopes of the Rhodopes and on the eastern slopes of Pirin, coal, etc.

Of Minister Turlakov) is to do the following in order to revive the region of Nevrokop and to feel that it is also part of Mother Bulgaria: 1.

The necessary state funds should be allocated for the repair of the roads and their bridges which connect the town of Nevrokop with Simitli and Sarambey stations so that trucks and cars can drive on them, 2.

A law should be passed in the National Assembly during its session to connect the town of Nevrokop with Simitli station or Sarambey station with a 75-centimeter narrow-gauge railway which in both cases will pass through the towns of Bansko and Mehomiya, the picturesque Razlog Valley (district) extremely rich also in pine forests.

Daily allowance of 10 to 20 BGN should be provided for the public servants and employees especially for those from old Bulgaria in the region of Strumica (resp.

in the region of Nevrokop) in order to attract in this way enough and capable officials from old Bulgaria, both for the court and for other state institutions.

Minister Turlakoff who visited the town of Nevrokop on the eve of the legislative elections has seen and we believe he is convinced of the reality of all the above.

When Sarambey became the starting point of the line, the population of Pazardzhik feared their town would be away from the traffic and requested a branch of the new railway, which was completed and opened on Oct 27, 1928.

After almost straight 6 km long section in the plain, the route reaches station Varvara, the former junction with the removed branch to Pazardzhik.

[1] Along the gorge, the line passes Marko Nikolov (ex Mineral baths), Tsepina (ex Dorkovo) stops, the river again and the road at manually operated level crossing, to reach station Dolene, where it continues in the opposite direction on the other side of the valley, climbing 246 m level displacement to drainage divide Chukata and station Kostandovo ( 801 m AMSL) in 10.9 km.

In the period of heavy traffic in 60s and 70s, Dryanov dol is extended with passing loop and becomes a station, but then it is completely closed, together with Milevi skali.

A few kilometers after Cvetino, the route turns to the right through the valley of the small river Lyuta reka, reaching the former station, now minor stop Sveta Petka.

The climbing ends at station Avramovo just after tunnel Nr 32, which is the longest one – 315 m. This highest point is followed by steep and long descent in the valley of river Dreshtenets.

Operation of the section Sarambey - Ladzhene began with four small steam engines (0-6-2T, UIC class C1′ n2vPt) of the 176 – 1076 series.

Ten engines of class 77 were delivered in 1988 from 23 August Works of Bucharest, Romania, but five of them were sold to RFIRT (now YCF), Argentina in 1996.