Bulgaria, Greece and Romania have agreed to submit a joint application for EU funding to modernise the Thessaloniki – Sofia – Bucharest railway corridor. According to the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport, the three countries are coordinating planning, design and approvals so that work can start simultaneously on all national sections, creating a continuous north-south corridor without cross-border delays. The agreement was reached at a working meeting on the Black Sea – Aegean corridor in Sofia with representatives of the European Commission (EC), the European Railway Agency (ERA), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The project is set to resume in 2027 after a hiatus of around ten years. The last direct train connection between Sofia and Thessaloniki ended in 2017. Other key projects include a third Danube bridge between Ruse and Giurgiu and the electrification of the approximately 11 km section from the Ruse marshalling yard to the middle of the bridge. The technical planning for this will be completed by June 2026, and the contractor is expected to be selected by the end of 2026. Other components under discussion include the Svilengrad – Plovdiv – Stara Zagora – Ruse corridor, including a new Balkan tunnel, and the modernisation of Bucharest North via Giurgiu North to the Bulgarian border. The investment volume for the multimodal corridor is estimated at around EUR 6 billion.
