The Vice Prime Minister Karadjov Presents an Ambitious Plan for the Modernization of the Railway Infrastructure in Northern Bulgaria

Deputy Prime Minister Grozdan Karadjov presented ambitious plans for the development of the railway infrastructure in Northern Bulgaria during a forum organized by the "24 Chasa" newspaper in Veliko Tarnovo. He announced that the government intends to build three new railway tunnels, passing through the Stara Planina mountain, in order to improve the transport connectivity between the Northern and Southern parts of the country.

The specific routes that will be proposed for concession are Stolnik–Mezdra, Hristo Danovo–Troyan, and passing through the "Hainboaz" pass. According to Karadjov, these routes were chosen because the slopes along them are up to 2 per mille, which allows carriers to use one locomotive per train, increasing the efficiency of freight transport.

The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that the government's goal is to integrate Northern and Southern Bulgaria into a single transport network, based on three main road and rail corridors in the north-south direction. The first corridor will connect Bulgaria with Greece through Kulata, Sofia, and Vidin, with the expectation of handling the increased cargo flow from the port of Thessaloniki. The second corridor will start from Svilengrad, where rail and road connections from Turkey and Greece will converge, with future expansion towards Veliko Tarnovo and Romania. The third corridor will provide a four-lane road connection from Malko Tarnovo to Silistra, along the Black Sea coast.

Karadjov explained that Bulgaria is working together with Greece and Romania to finance parts of these corridors and to open two more points for bridge structures across the Danube River - near Svishtov and Nikopol.