Yesterday, 18 May 2010, Minister of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications Aleksandar Tsvetkov officially launched the project, Electrification and Reconstruction of the Railway Line from Svilengrad to the Turkish Border. During the ceremony the Minister said: "This event is a result of coordinated, responsibly planned and professionally carried out joint work. We have demonstrated that the acceleration of the preparation of infrastructure projects is a matter of will, clearly formulated goals and assuming of specific responsibilities."

This is the first railway project financed under OP Transport the implementation of which begins. Its goals are to ensure high operational indicators and meet European requirements for traffic safety, energy efficiency and environment protection.

The Railway Infrastructure National Company is beneficiary under the project and the Czech company, OHL ZS, is contractor. The latter was awarded a public procurement contract for the project implementation under the Public Procurement Act.

The contract is of the total value of 83,999,599 BGN after VAT. It includes design and construction of railway facilities, railway track, overhead crossings and subways, electrification and its connection to the Turkish railway systems.

The duration of the contract is 24 months as the activities under the project will be implemented in three stages:

Stage I - Drafting and approval of a working design for the railway section;

Stage II - Construction;

Stage III - Setting into operation.

Deadline for the project implementation: May 2011.

The implementation of the project will allow the movement of 70 trains per day along this railway line (compared to 52 trains at present) at a speed of 160 - 200 km/h.

Main benefits from the project:

• Reducing of the time for travel in the section by eight minutes;
• Enhancing safety (removing of crossings);
• Reducing the negative impact on the environment;
• Enhancing population mobility.