Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Peev held an online meeting with Romania’s Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defence and Interim Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Radu-Dinel Miruță and Serbia’s Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Aleksandra Sofronijević. The meeting, initiated by Minister Peev, focused on the upcoming works on the railway infrastructure in Serbia and Romania and their impact on international rail traffic. Deputy Ministers of Transport and Communications Tsveta Timeva and Hristina Velinova also took part in the meeting.
Serbia is planning to close the Niš – Dimitrovgrad railway section for approximately 200 days, starting in September 2026. In Romania, a complete suspension of traffic on the Giurgiu Nord – Ruse route is planned from April to December 2027. The Bulgarian side expressed concern that simultaneous restrictions on the two routes would seriously affect freight flows between Central Europe, the Balkans and Türkiye.
Minister Georgi Peev noted that Bulgarian railway operators had already expressed concerns about the consequences of the planned restrictions and the need to identify viable alternatives.
“For Bulgaria, maintaining rail connectivity with Serbia and Romania is of strategic importance. The works need to be coordinated in such a way as to ensure the greatest possible continuity of international traffic,” Minister Peev said. As a possible solution, he proposed allocating time slots for freight trains in advance in order to avoid a complete suspension of traffic.
The three countries agreed that the discussions would continue at the level of the management of their railway infrastructure companies. The discussions will focus on specific operational solutions for coordinating the works and making use of the available capacity in order to minimise the adverse impact on cross-border rail traffic.
