Traffic of freight trains via Bulgaria will increase

[Administrator]

Stiliyan Krotnev: Traffic of freight trains via Bulgaria will increase, when railway tunnel under the Bosporus opens

Stiliyan Krotnev, Director of the Directorate for Strategic Development and Investment Projects at the National Railway Infrastructure Company, in an interview with FOCUS News Agency


FOCUS: Mr. Krotnev, what is the significance of the rehabilitation project for Ruse-Varna railway line?
Stiliyan Krotnev: The railway line between the northern cities of Ruse and Varna is one of the main priorities of the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC). The line will be rehabilitated and modernized completely. The project is related also with the strategy of the NRIC to modernize completely and construct railway lines in the country. The NRIC started coordinating the Ruse-Varna railway line project and in 2010 the project was technically ready. In the recent months the procedures for making the project in line with the Spatial Development Act have begun. I hope the procedures will be over by the end of the year and that next year we will be able to declare the tenders open and have an application form approved. The project connects a river and a sea – the riverside city of Ruse and the seaside city of Varna – and will considerably improve freight railway traffic. This year the line celebrates its 147th anniversary and for so many years it has undergone only partial repairs. The only larger repair took place at the end of the 1980s when the line was electrified. Currently the trains run at a very low average speed in some sections – between 40 and 60 km/h. The project aims to increase the maximum speed to 130 km/h and the average speed to 70 km/h and rehabilitate the entire railway line.

FOCUS: What will be the advantages of the rehabilitated railway section?
Stiliyan Krotnev: The modernization project will bring a lot of advantages for both businesses and people, because it will create jobs. In addition, an intermodal terminal will be built in the city of Ruse in the next Multiannual Financial Framework and we plan to construct one also in the city of Varna. This will boost the local economy in these regions.

FOCUS: How is the modernization of Septemvri-Plovdiv railway line going?
Stiliyan Krotnev: The three lots of the line have been almost entirely designed. We expect the Ministry of Regional Development to issue a construction permit at the end of September or the beginning of October so that we can start working on all sections, or on the sections we will have a permit for. A lot of preparations are under way. Two weeks ago we visited the site together with Transport Minister Danail Papazov and Deputy Transport Minister Petar Kirov. They were satisfied with what they saw. We visited one of the lots. Building materials have been supplied so that we can start immediately after receiving a construction permit.

FOCUS: How will the opening of a railway tunnel under the Bosporus affect freight railway traffic?
Stiliyan Krotnev: I believe Bulgarian railway transport can develop further and freight traffic can be profitable. The transportation of passengers is not a small activity. Freight railway traffic is busy right now, but when the railway tunnel under the Bosporus opens, it is expected that the traffic of freight trains via Bulgaria will increase further. We are doing our best to accomplish successfully the ongoing projects – Septemvri-Plovdiv and Dimitrovgrad-Svilengrad. We are preparing also the Sofia-Septemvri and Sofia-Dragoman projects which will be implemented in 2014-2020. In this way the route from the border with Serbia via the cities of Sofia and Plovdiv to the borders with Turkey and Greece will be built.

Inna POGLUBKO

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source: Focus