site.bta Bulgaria Works Hard on Upgrading of Rail Link between Serbia and Bourgas

Bulgaria Works Hard on Upgrading of Rail Link between Serbia and Bourgas

Plovdiv, Southern Bulgaria, September 1 (BTA) - Bulgaria is working hard on the modernization of the railway connecting Serbia and the Bulgarian city of Bourgas as well as the branches to Greece and Turkey, Transport, IT and Communications Minister Ivailo Moskovski said here Thursday. He was speaking in Plovdiv during an international conference on logistics and combined freight transport in Southeast Europe.

The railway from Septemvri to Svilengrad in southern Bulgaria will be completed by the end of the year allowing passenger trains to travel at a speed of 160 km/h and freight trains at 120 km/h, said Moskovski.

The modernization of the line connecting Serbia and Bourgas will continue during the next programming period by 2020.

The Transport Minister noted that 118 projects of a total value of some 4 billion leva were financed by the EU-funded Operational Programme Transport in the 2007-2013 period. 98 per cent of the EU funds are expected to be absorbed by end-2016.

Railway lines of a total length of 500 km have been upgraded so far. They are equipped with the modern European Rail Traffic Management System.

New motorways of a total length of 260 km and first-class roads of a length of 31 km have been built and roads of a length of 19 km have been upgraded.

Moskovski said he expects that works on the intermodal terminal in Plovdiv would be completed by the end of October adding that a similar facility in Varna is at the stage of technical design. Such terminals will also be built in Sofia and the river ports of Vidin and Rousse.