From mid-June, we will run express trains every day from Sofia to Burgas and Varna. They will have several stops in order to achieve quick travel to the sea during the summer season. This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Grozdan Karadjov after a working meeting on railway wheels between Sofia and Burgas.
“The first goal of today's trip was to check the capabilities of BDZ to offer a quality express service before the start of the summer season”, said Grozdan Karadjov. “Today we covered the distance from Sofia to Burgas in 5 hours and 32 minutes“, the Deputy Prime Minister pointed out.
“The result is that BDZ can run its trains like the Swiss ones - we arrived and departed from each station exactly at the scheduled hour and minute. Bulgarian citizens deserve such precision.” He specified that the two trains will include three carriages and one restaurant carriage. From June 15 to September 15, they will run daily, with one train set departing for Varna and another for Burgas each morning. In the afternoon, the same trains will depart for Sofia from Varna and Burgas, respectively. The ticket price is planned to be 63 leva in both directions. The service will continue in the winter, if there is customer interest.
Minister Karadjov pointed out that the second task of today's meeting is related to a review of the current repairs on the railway lines and the possibilities for reducing travel time. “We expect the repairs on the Podbalkanska line from Sofia via Karlovo to Burgas to be completed by June 16, which will increase speeds in these sections and reduce travel time to Burgas by another 15-20 minutes. This would make rail transport a real alternative to bus transport – with higher levels of comfort, a leveled average speed and much higher security. There are no traffic jams with the train and it is more economical”, he noted.
”The third topic we worked on today is the delayed projects on the railway infrastructure. We expect all sections financed under European programs to be completed by 2029. For now, only the railway tunnel at Vakarel is in question, for which technical surveys are currently being carried out and we have yet to find out how its implementation will continue“, said Deputy Prime Minister Karadjov.
He pointed out that among the long-term priorities is the railway connectivity between Northern and Southern Bulgaria with railway tunnels. “Currently, there is no one that runs from south to north, which leads to a serious loss of time. We have identified three locations - between Stolnik and Mezdra, between Hristo Danovo and Troyan and along Hainboaz. NRIC is starting analyses of whether these are suitable routes for future implementation for the construction of new tunnels”, explained Grozdan Karadjov.