By 2024, Sofia Central Railway Station will turn into a modern passenger intermodal terminal with a renovated main building, new tracks and modern signaling and telecommunications systems, stated the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Georgi Todorov, who made a sudden inspection of the site today. The repair of the largest passenger railway station in our country is progressing at a good pace, the Minister commented after the inspection.
The contractor informed Minister Todorov that thorough renovation of the railway tracks is currently undergoing and activities in the area of Voluyak railway station are due to be launched soon. Within the same project, the 10-kilometer railway line from Sofia to Voluyak will be repaired and new signaling and telecommunications systems will be introduced. The construction of two new railway stations in Voluyak and Obelya is also forthcoming. Obelya railway station will made connection with the Sofia metro, which will significantly facilitate all traveling from Western Bulgaria to the capital.
During his visit to the station, Minister Todorov also was acquainted with the work of the dispatch center for train traffic management. "This is where the coordination between the carriers and the dispatch centers in the country takes place. It manages the movement of all trains, incl. passenger, freight and international", explained the Deputy General Director of the National Railway Infrastructure Company, Eng. Bisser Minchev.
A curious fact from the history of Sofia Central Railway Station is that the first locomotive that arrived at the station in the distant 1887 traveled in the Sofia-Voluyak direction. At that moment the railway station had been lightened with gas lamps, and the traffic had been monitored with Morse code devices.
