Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Grozdan Karadjov will put three new Siemens “Smartron“ locomotives into operation, the Ministry of Transport and Communications announced.
The event will take place at 9:30 a.m. on the first platform of the Sofia Central Railway Station.
The new rolling stock was purchased within the framework of a contract for the supply of 10 locomotives worth just over BGN 91 million. With the newly delivered three, the total number of locomotives of this model in the BDZ – Passenger Transport fleet becomes 24.
In June, BDZ put three more new “Smartron“ locomotives into operation. The newly delivered three locomotives bear the names of prominent figures such as the patriarch of Bulgarian literature Ivan Vazov and the revivalists Teofan Raynov and Radi Ivanov, who with their history and revolutionary work are closely connected to the construction and functioning of the railway in Bulgarian lands.
The initiative to name the new ten locomotives after Bulgarian revivalists who contributed to the construction and development of railway transport in the country follows the example of the first fifteen locomotives of the same series, which are already in operation and bear the names of Bulgarian rulers.
The line-up is under the signed contract between BDZ and DZZD “Siemens Tron” for the production, delivery and warranty maintenance of ten electric locomotives. Thus, the number of machines delivered under this contract is already six, with the remaining four expected by the end of the year.