Contracting Authority: ZGOP Bulgaria, a Company established under the Obligations and Contracts Act

Sofia – Voluyak railway section is part of the project “Development of Sofia Railway Junction”. It belongs to the Orient/East-Med Corridor, railway line Vidin – Sofia – Burgas / border with the Republic of Turkey; Sofia – Thessaloniki – Athens / Piraeus, according to Part 1.2 of Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013. The main project is also directly linked to other major railway modernisation projects next to Sofia Railway Junction, its development being of key importance for the Transcontinental Lines in the region. It plays a significant role in the development of the corridor, as without major railway junctions along the main corridors, the continuous operation of the long-distance network cannot be achieved. Sofia is the largest railway junction in Bulgaria and is the starting point of most rail destinations, therefore its development has the highest priority for the country.

The overall objectives of the project are:

• Integration of the national transport network into the European transport network. The lines within Sofia Railway Junction shall be modernised in accordance with all interoperability requirements for the infrastructure, equipment, control, operation and safety systems, as required by Directive 2008/57/EC and its subsequent amendments.
• Development of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and the Orient/East-Med Corridor of the main network.
• Creating conditions for an increase in the volume of freight carried along the line as a result of the improvement of the line parameters in terms of speed, travel time, capacity and reliability of the service.
• Shifting freight from road to rail, resulting in a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, i.e. reducing the negative impact of transport on the environment as a whole.
• Facilitating the development of important economic centres of the South Central and South West regions of Bulgaria along the line, which will contribute to the implementation of plans to achieve economic and social cohesion in regional development.
• Modernisation of significant infrastructure elements of national and international importance related to other major infrastructure projects in the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T)- construction of the new combined road and rail bridge over the Danube River at Vidin – Calafat, the railway tunnel under the Bosphorus in Istanbul, modernisation of Calafat – Craiova line in Romania.
• Dispersing passenger flows by opening new stations with convenient connections to mass public transport and increasing the capacity and building additional tracks (at least one per section).
• Ensuring the modernisation of the railway infrastructure of Sofia Railway Junction, which will lead to an improvement of the railway track operation in the region of the capital and the adjacent territory.
• Improving the technical parameters and operational speed in the area of the railway junction, including creating conditions for optimal combination and integration of different modes of transport, optimising the capacity and efficiency of the existing railway lines.