BULGARIA: Plans have been announced for the rehabilitation and electrification of the 39 km railway between Yambol and Elhovo and the construction of a 32 km alignment between Elhovo and Lesovo where a new rail border crossing with Turkey would be built.
The 71 km route with three stations would be designed to enable passenger trains to run at 160 km/h and freight at 120 km/h. The new border crossing would relieve congestion at the existing Svilengrad – Kapıkule crossing.
A pre-investment study for the line has been completed under the European Union’s TEN-T framework, and EU funding for the line is expected.
Minister of Transport Grozdan Karadjov and his Turkish counterpart Abdulkadir Uraloğlu reached an agreement in principle for the project at a meeting in June, although Turkey has not yet announced plans for its side of the border. Around 15 to 20 km of new alignment would be needed to link the planned border crossing to the Istanbul Halkalı – Kapıküle main line.
The existing main line from Turkey to the EU border is currently being upgraded in an ongoing programme which is expected to be completed by the end of this year. This is intended to cut the journey time for passenger trains between Istanbul and the Bulgarian border from 4 h to 1½ h and for freight trains from 8½ h to 3½ h.
