Starting mid-June, we will launch daily express trains from Sofia to Burgas and Varna. These trains will have fewer stops, allowing for faster travel to the seaside during the summer season. This was announced today by the Vice Premier and Minister of Transport and Communications, Grozdan Karadzhov, following a working meeting on the Sofia-Burgas railway.
“The primary goal of today's journey was to assess BDZ's capabilities to offer a quality express service before the start of the summer season,” stated Grozdan Karadzhov. “Today, we covered the distance from Sofia to Burgas in 5 hours and 32 minutes,” noted the Vice Premier.
“The result is that BDZ can operate its trains like Swiss trains – arriving and departing from stations exactly on schedule. Bulgarian citizens deserve such precision.” He specified that the two trains will each consist of three carriages and a restaurant car. From June 15th to September 15th, they will run daily, with one departing from Sofia to Varna in the morning and another to Burgas. The return compositions will depart from Varna and Burgas respectively. The ticket price is planned to be 63 BGN for both routes. The service will continue through the winter if there is client interest.
Minister Karadzhov pointed out that the second task of today's meeting was related to a review of the current repairs on the railway lines and the possibilities for reducing travel time. “We expect the repairs on the Podbalkanska line from Sofia via Karlovo to Burgas to be completed by June 10th, which will increase train speeds in these sections and reduce travel time to Burgas by 15-20 minutes. This would make railway transport a real alternative to bus transport – with a higher level of comfort, a comparable average journey cost, and a much higher level of safety. Trains have no competition in terms of health and are more economical,” he noted.
“The third topic we worked on today concerns delayed railway infrastructure projects. We expect all sections financed by European programs to be completed by 2029. Currently, only the tunnel near Vakarel is in question, for which technical surveys are being carried out, and we are yet to determine how its implementation will proceed,” said Vice Premier Karadzhov.
He pointed out that among the long-term priorities is the railway connectivity between Northern and Southern Bulgaria via railway tunnels. “At the moment, there is no such tunnel that runs from south to north, which leads to a serious loss of time. We have identified three locations: between Stolnik and Mezdra, between Hristo Danovo and Troyan, and along the Hainboaz pass. The NRIC is starting analyses to determine if these are suitable routes for the future construction of new tunnels,” Grozdan Karadzhov further explained.
