The new train schedule of “BDZ - Passenger Transport“ EOOD comes into force this Sunday, December 14, 2025, the company's press center announced.
In most regions of the country, the current schedule is maintained, and additional connections between trains with the possibility of traveling between more settlements have been provided to improve service.
BDZ specifies that when preparing the transport scheme, the movement of fast and passenger trains is coordinated annually with the regional and municipal administrations.
The draft schedule was published for public discussion in September. Some of the changes made to the timetable are in line with proposals received from citizens and local authorities, and others - with the need for more efficient use of rolling stock and ongoing repair activities on the railway infrastructure.
In 2026, the volume of transportation set out in the public service contract with the state is maintained. Passenger transport will be carried out by 518 trains, of which 79 fast (two of them seasonal), 117 passenger and 322 suburban trains, some of which will run only on certain days.
The new timetable will reduce the travel time of trains between Sofia and Burgas via Plovdiv, Sofia and Varna via Plovdiv, Plovdiv and Varna, after their routes through Chirpan are restored and the long detour through Dimitrovgrad due to repair work on the railway is avoided.
The movement of fast trains Sofia - Burgas - Sofia via the Sub-Balkan railway line with significantly reduced travel time is maintained, which provide a convenient connection to and from Veliko Tarnovo and Ruse and provide the convenient opportunity to arrive before noon in Burgas and return in the afternoon to Sofia and Central Northern Bulgaria.
The new timetable also retains the direct morning trains Ruse - Sofia and Ruse - Plovdiv with convenient afternoon returns from both points of the country to the Danube city. The possibility of a one-day trip to Haskovo, Kardzhali, Momchilgrad and a number of tourist destinations near the Studen Kladenets dam is also preserved with the daily fast trains on the route Dimitrovgrad - Haskovo - Kardzhali - Momchilgrad - Podkova and back, which provide convenient connections to and from Sofia, Pazardzhik and Plovdiv.
The regional service in the Lovech and Troyan region is being improved by restoring the afternoon train to and from Troyan, and the service in the Plovdiv - Asenovgrad direction is also being improved by minimizing trips with a transfer at Krumovo station. The service on the narrow gauge is also being improved with a change in the schedule of the night train, which will now depart later, at a more convenient time of day.
With the entry into force of the new schedule, the sought-after convenient fast connection for travel from Plovdiv to Veliko Tarnovo and Ruse is being restored with a transfer at Mihailovo station from the fast train No. 8631 from Plovdiv to Varna to the fast train No. 464 from Dimitrovgrad to Gorna Oryahovitsa. The route of train No. 2654 from Varna to Vratsa is also being restored, after in the current 2025 it only ran to Mezdra station.
The new schedule also provides for the movement of 8 international fast trains. The daily movement of trains between Bulgaria and Turkey with the night train on the route Sofia - Halkali - Sofia, as well as the direct carriages between Bucharest and Halkali in the summer period, the trains between Bulgaria and Romania through the international connection on the direction Sofia - Bucharest with the morning train Sofia - Varna with direct carriages to Ruse and the afternoon train Ruse - Sofia with a connection at the Ruse station to and from Bucharest will be maintained. During the summer period, the movement of direct carriages on the directions Sofia - Gorna Oryahovitsa - Bucharest - Gorna Oryahovitsa - Sofia and Varna - Ruse - Bucharest - Ruse - Varna will be maintained. The other possibility for an international connection between Bulgaria and Romania is on the Sofia - Craiova route, which is carried out at Vidin station with the morning train Sofia - Varna with a connection at Mezdra station for Vidin, as well as in the opposite direction with the afternoon train Vidin - Sofia.
BTA recalls that from December 12, BDZ is launching Christmas trains with a steam locomotive on two routes Sofia - Bankya - Sofia and Gorna Oryahovitsa - Veliko Tarnovo - Gorna Oryahovitsa.