Part of the results of the comprehensive analysis of the railway sector in Bulgaria will be used for the preparation of the project for purchasing new rolling stock under Operational Programme "Transport". This was announced during the press conference which presented the inferences of Lot 1 "Assessment of the market demand for the rail passenger transport services in the Republic of Bulgaria and the development of measures to optimize them" and Lot 3 "Reengineering of the maintenance of the railway, the flow and distribution control of electricity carried out by the National Company "Railway Infrastructure".

"We will consider the results of the analysis, but we can say in advance that it is most likely that the new rolling stock will be purchased for lines that have been upgraded during this programming period or those which are located within the main Trans-European network and service a sufficient number of passengers" said engineer Galina Vasileva, Director of the "Coordination of Programmes and Projects" directorate at the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications. "Some suburban lines could be a good candidate for EU funding", she added.

According to engineer Vasileva the project for purchasing new rolling stock can be realized within the next programming period of OP "Transport". It will be probably financed under the future priority axes "Innovation in management and services - implementation of modernized infrastructure for traffic management, safety and security improvements in the transport".

The results of the contractor’s report show that: in 2012, 26 million passengers were transported, 67% of them were satisfied with the cost of the trip. Travelers aged 19 – 26 are the largest share of the passengers and nearly 40% of them have used the railways to travel for a vacation, 16% to commute to work and almost as much to get to school. The percentage of business travel is only 4%. Almost 60% of travelers benefit from discounts and nearly 80% are ready to book in advance at a discount.

The event was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, Holding “Bulgarian State Railways” EAD, National Railway Infrastructure Company and others.