Modernization of Vidin-Sofia railway line: Medkovets-Sratsimir railway section

ongoing

"The project “Modernization of Vidin-Sofia railway line: Medkovets-Sratsimir railway section” is a part of the Global project ""Modernization of Vidin-Sofia railway line"" located on OEM Corridor (""Baltic Sea - Black Sea - Aegean Sea"" corridor according to REGULATION (EU) 2024/1679 ) and the Core TEN-T Network, passing through Bulgaria. This line is a technical bottleneck in the sense of Article 3(5) of TEN-T Regulation. The main objectives of the project are aiming to increase operational speed to 160 km/h for the passenger rail transport and to 120 km/ h for the freight rail transport; to increase the interoperability of the proposed line and respectively along the OEM corridor (""Baltic Sea - Black Sea - Aegean Sea"" corridor according to REGULATION (EU) 2024/1679 ). It will not only eliminate the existing bottlenecks in the TEN-T Networkbut also will contribute to climate change objectives- to reduce GHG by making the railway transport more attractive and diverting the congested motor traffic from road transport to the more environmentally friendly rail transport mode by establishing centers for transition from motor traffic to the use of and/or connection with the rail transport. To meet the requirements for operational interoperability, to solve the existing problems and to achieve the speed 160 km/h for passenger and 120 km/h for freight trains, the modernization of the line requires construction of a new railway route. In the section Medkovets - Sratsimir should be built 42.731 km single, new railway line, , construction of 104.1 km cable duct, tunnel with a length of 325 m, 5 road underpass/overpass, 13 agricultural underpass/overpass, 3 pedestrian underpass/overpass, 29 culverts and 2 sewage sanitary pipelines, 31 intersections with other infrastructures will be reconstructed."