Minister Aleksandar Tsvetkov Announced the First Big Railway Project Related to the Operational Programme on Transport
11.11.2009
The Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Alexander Tsvetkov announced today that the National Railway Infrastructure Company opens tender for selection of a contractor for "Rehabilitation of railway infrastructure along sections of the railway line Plovdiv - Bourgas". This is the first big project related to the Operational Programme on Transport (OPT). Its indicative budget is 366, 45 million leva. 64% of this amount is grant aid from the Cohesion Fund of the European Union and 36% is coming from the national budget. This project is a high priority for Bulgaria. The section Plovdiv-Bourgas is part of the Pan-European Transport Corridor Number 8. With its realization, the development of the main railway infrastructure will improve and will achieve an integration of the national transport network with that of the European Union. After the execution of the project, the average speed that will be able to be reached will be between 130-160km/h as opposed to the current 80 km/h. This will lead to travel time saved of more than 1 hour on the section Plovdiv-Bourgas. The experts believe that the economic benefits of the realization of this project will reach the amount of 1,529 billion leva for the period of its exploitation. For additional information:
Milan Martinov, Press Centre,
Ministry of Transport, Information Technology
and Communications
Phone: 940 96 25
E-Mail: mmartinov@mtitc.government.bg |