Bulgaria’s rail infrastructure manager NRIC has launched the construction works for the Lot 3 between Ihtiman and Kostenets on Elin Pelin – Kostenets railway line.
The Elin Pelin – Kostenets railway line is part of the East – West rail axis on the European Corridor VIII which is extremely important for Bulgaria and the neighboring countries.
The official ceremony was attended by Zlatin Angelov Krumov, the General Director of NRIC, Philip Kupfer, the Commercial Counselor at the Embassy of Austria, Margarita Mincheva – Deputy Mayor of Kostenets Municipality, Kaloyan Iliev the Mayor of the Municipality Ihtiman and Stefan Totev, the representative of DZZD Strabag GP Rail 2017 consortium.
The consortium comprising Strabag AG – Bulgaria Branch, Strabag Sp.z.o.o. – Bulria Branch, Strabag Rail GmbH and GP Group AD signed the BGN 394.5 million (EUR 201.7 million) contract in 2020.
The scope of the contract includes construction of 12 km of double track, the catenary network, systems and equipment of external power supply and external lighting of the station areas, as well as design and construction of the video surveillance systems and passenger information systems.
The project also includes the construction of eight 5.48 km single tube tunnels for the double track, two viaducts with an approximate total length of 1005 metres and 11 bridges with a total length of 778 metres. This is required as the line is crossing a difficult mountainous terrain and the structures will allow a smooth, comfortable and faster journey. Under the project, se protection facilities with an approximate length of 1,066 m and drainage facilities will be also constructed, while the Nemirovo stop will be reconstructed.
Following modernisation work, freight trains will be able to run at 120 km/h while the passenger trains at 160 km/h.
In August 2021, the Ministry of Transport launched the construction works for the 7 km twin tunnel on the Elin Pelin – Vakarel section.
The modernisation of the 51 km Elin Pelin – Kostenets railway line is one of the most ambitious and important rail projects implemented under the Transport and Transport Infrastructure Operational Programme 2014-2020 and is also supported by the recently adopted Transport Connectivity programme 2021-2027.
The entire project, implemented into several lots has a value of BGN 1 billion (EUR 523.5 million) and covers the construction of tunnels totalling 20 km as well as 23 bridges and viaducts.
The project is part of the modernisation of Sofia – Plovdiv railway line comprising Sofia – Elin Pelin and Elin Pelin – Septemvri sections which is carried with co-financing from the Cohesion Fund.
Part of the Sofia – Plovdiv upgrade, NRIC has started the modernisation of Kostenets –Septemvri line in 2020 covering the construction of 24.5 km of double track electrified rail as well as other structures such as bridges, tunnels, underpass and three overpasses as well as the installation of the ERTMS. Kostenets station will be reconstructed while the other existing stations and stops will be modernised.
Kostenets–Septemvri rail modernisation received EUR 130.5 million funding of EUR 153.5 million eligible costs from the Connecting Europe Facility under the 2015 call to support five activities related to works, project management, land acquisition and supervision of works. the project also includes the tunnel 11 on the Kostenets – Belovo section but it will be implemented under a separate sub-project. Following the completion of the project, the line will meet all technical standards for passenger and freight transport and will also remove a major bottleneck along the entire main line.
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