Bulgaria’s railroad infrastructure operator has presented a project to modernize the Vidin-Sofia railway line, which was built 100 years ago. The total cost of the project is 2.3 billion euros. In terms of value, this is the largest railway project in Bulgaria. This is reported by Railway Supply magazine with reference to zdmira.

Bulgaria

At the moment the project for the reconstruction of the Medkovets – Vidin section near the border with Romania has been prepared. Straightening of its route will reduce the length of the line Vidin – Sofia by 14 km. Two tunnels 325 and 2975 m long respectively, six bridges with a total length of 564 m and 11 viaducts with a total length of 4680 m will be built, including one 1126 m long and 112 m high above the ground.

A heavier type of rails will be laid on the electrified section, which, taking into account the new artificial constructions, will allow passenger trains to travel at a speed of 160 km/h and cargo trains – up to 120 km/h. The line will comply with safety and reliability requirements imposed on railroads in EU countries, and will be part of the TEN-T transport corridor network.

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Partial reconstruction of two existing intermediate stations Medkovets-Brusartsi, Brusartsi-Dybova Mahala and construction of four new stations are also planned within the project. Software modeling of the propagation of acoustic waves emitted during the passage of trains will be performed in order to develop in the future means of protection in areas with high noise levels.

The section Vidin – Medkovets will be divided into three in terms of the organization of construction works. During March 2023 it is expected that tender procedures will be conducted to select construction contractors for the first two sections.

The approximate cost of the reconstruction of the Vidin – Medkovets section is about €613.5 million, 85% of which will be provided by the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF)

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