Thanks to the support of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Sofia, the project was implemented in less than 3 months.
BDZ and Deutsche Bahn are in the final phase of negotiations for the purchase of up to 70 passenger coaches from the rolling stock of the German railways. With them, the national rail carrier will modernize more than 20% of the rolling stock currently in use, which is over 40 years old. This became clear during a meeting of the Minister of Transport and Communications Mr. Georgi Gvozdeykov with the Ambassador of Germany Her Excellency Irene Plank and representatives of Deutsche Bahn.
"During the past six months, I held a series of meetings with ambassadors from various European countries and we sent inquiries to all major manufacturers of rolling stock in Europe, with only one goal - quick steps towards the reform of the BDZ," stated Minister Gvozdeykov. He added that thanks to the active support of the German embassy, in less than 3 months, a modernized European-level rolling stock was provided, which is available and will be delivered in a short time. "This is an excellent chance for the Bulgarian society to finally receive the long-awaited reform in the railway transport, which has not been done for more than 30 years," Gvozdeykov also stated.
The Minister emphasized that between 50 and 70 modernized passenger coaches that have been operated and in service by Deutsche Bahn on the "Intercity" lines until December, will be purchased. "The rolling stock is for a speed of up to 200 km per hour, air-conditioned, without compartments, and an open space type, having all the comforts for the passengers," added Georgi Gvozdeykov. A Bulgarian team is about to visit Germany by the end of the month to clarify and finalize the delivery and acquisition procedures.
Ambassador Plank stated that she was impressed by the energy and enthusiasm with which the Ministry and BDZ team worked on this project. "In less than 3 months, with much focused work on your part, you managed to turn the idea into real results," she added.
