European funding for the Voluyak-Dragoman railway line approved

The European Commission approved the project for the modernization of the Voluyak-Dragoman railway line, which is part of the Railway Corridor to the border with Serbia. The project has a total value of BGN 166.2 million, which will be provided by OPTTI 2014-2020. Of these, BGN 130.2 million are European funds.

In May of this year the Government allowed the conclusion of a Financing Contract between MTC and the beneficiary National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC), before the final approval of the project by the EC, which is already a fact.

Due to the short deadlines until the end of the operational program, NRIC divided the project into two phases. By December 2023, the first stage, which includes the modernization and partial doubling of the 34-kilometer railway line from Voluyak to Dragoman, should be completed. At the moment, the technical design of the two sections of the project – Voluyak-Petarch and Petarch-Dragoman – is being carried out, and the contractors are expected to start real construction activities shortly.

The second phase of the project envisages the construction of signaling and telecommunications systems and ERTMS, and is included in the "Transport Connectivity" Program 2021 - 2027. It is expected that in 2027 the track will allow a speed of 160 km/h for passenger trains and 120 km/h h for freight. Normal 0 21 false false false BG KO X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}