Bulgaria to have private passenger trains for the first time in 138 years

Outgoing Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Grozdan Karadjov has signed the contracts with the winning bidders in the tender for passenger rail services in the country. The state-owned company ''BDZ – Passenger Services'' will serve the Western region, which accounts for 75% of rail traffic in Bulgaria.

For the Northern region (14% of passenger services) and the Southern region (11% of passenger services), the top-ranked company in the tender is ''Ivkoni Express''.

The contracts for the three lots are for a period of 12 years and will enter into force on December 13, 2026.

“For the first time, Bulgaria will have more than one passenger rail operator, and for the first time there will be a private one”, Grozdan Karadjov said. In his words, only two more steps remain to complete all the reforms in the railway sector envisaged under the Recovery and Resilience Plan.

Edited by Ivo Ivanov

Translated by Kostadin Atanasov