Sat, Nov 07 2009

40% railway stations in Bulgaria have been renovated, minister says

Mon, Feb 23 2009 11:04 CET byNick Iliev 721 Views
40% railway stations in Bulgaria have been renovated, minister says

Photo: Julia Lazarova

Out of 348 train stations across Bulgaria, 147 have been upgrade and refurbished completely, Transport Minister Petar Moutafchiev told reporters on March 21 during the inauguration ceremony of the modernised stations in Kaloyanovo and Graf Ignatievo, both in Plovdiv region, as quoted by Stroitelstvo Gradut weekly.

"The National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) has invested 350 000 leva for the repair and modernisation project of Kaloyanovo and Graf Ignatievo alone," NRIC general director Anton Ginev said.

As part of the ongoing maintenance programme, 80 railway bridges in Bulgaria have also been renovated, 18 of which are in the Plovdiv region.

The terminal in Kaloyanovo had to be restored thoroughly after it had sustained heavy damage during the 2005 floods, for which NRIC allocated 200 000 leva for the facelift, as well as the installation of new equipment.

"Graf Ignatievo was made a primary target for modernisation as it is in immediate proximity to Bulgaria's biggest and most modern air force base," Ginev said.

Both stations have had new equipment installed and their the main buildings modernised, including the ticket centres, waiting rooms, the addition of new cafes, modern electronic boards, new pavements, vertical and horizontal markings, and new roofs. Both stations have also had their infrastructure improved and "can be fully and comfortably accessed by disabled people," Ginev said.

Write comment

Name:Comment:

Generate new code
Send your comment
Construction of the new Sofia to Vidin railway line must start by 2013

Once the overhaul and reconstruction of the Sofia–Vidin line is complete, it will cut travel time to three hours, as the train will be able to reach speeds of up to 160 km/h, shortening the journey to three hours.

International consortium bids for the completion of the Svilengrad – Turkish border railway track

Bulgarian Trace and SK 13, Spanish OHL, Greek Terna and Czech Brno are all bidding for the construction of the railway.

Bulgaria cuts funding for new railways strategy

Bulgaria's Cabinet approved a new strategy for the development of the country's railways, meant to improve the quality and safety of the service to European Union standards, but at the same time made a big cut in the funding allocated to reach those goals. The draft strategy was submitted by Transport Minister Petar Moutafchiev for Cabinet approval in October 2008 and envisioned 6.5 billion leva being spent by 2013.

Bulgarian state railways BDZ to shed 1300 jobs

Another chilling breeze from the global crunch has reached Bulgaria, with the Minister of Transport Petar Moutafchiev announcing on November 20 that the Bulgarian state railways BDZ will make 1250 redundancies in order to unload some of the burden from the company and "optimise its expenses". As a paramount reason for thinning the ranks of BDZ's employees, Moutafchiev pointed out the recent predicament of Kremikovtzi steel plant, which has been declared bankrupt.

TALKING BUSINESS: End of the line

How many people are needed to change a 300kg railway track? The answer is six. This takes several hours and involves pickaxes and a great deal of physical exertion from the workers. In effect, this has always been the modus operandi within the Bulgarian railways sector - using working methods dating back to the beginning of the 20th century - as well as a highly inefficient allocation of resources.

More in this category

Influenza update: Sofia schools suspend classes

Kindergartens to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis and universities to decide for themselves whether to suspend classes.

Sliven police capture illegal immigrants bound for Greece

Five illegal immigrants from Iran and Iraq caught by Bulgarian police in Sliven.

Deputy head of veterinary service arrested on bribery charge

Leonid Lavchev sent an intermediary to collect 1000 leva from a dairy farm in Haskovo, investigators say

Former cabinet minister investigated for alleged embezzlement, malfeasance

Former labour minister Emilia Maslarova follows the example of Socialist party leader and former prime minister, Sergei Stanishev, in requesting that her MP immunity is lifted

Influenza update: sixth death in Bulgaria, Sofia schools face suspended classes

Health Minister: Influenza strain is not seasonal flu, it is swine flu. More than 100 000 Bulgarians are down with the H1N1 strain.

© 2000-2009, Sofia Echo Media Ltd.

Web Design by RIZN

Sofia Echo Media is part of the Economedia Group.
The news and information content on this website is provided by our editorial team and is copyrighted. Any unauthorised reproduction or use of it is strictly forbidden. Reproduction of this website's content is permitted only with prior written permission from the Editor-in-Chief, should be propertly acredited and provide an active link back to our site. Comments posted by the website's visitors are independent of the editorial materials and do not represent the views of sofiaecho.com. Sofia Echo Media cannot be held responsible for the statements contained in visitor comments. The percentаge change in the shares' prices are based on the price of the last transaction of the current session compared to the price of the last transaction of the previous session. Bulgarian Stock Exchange data is not real-time, but updated every 15 minutes, and should not be used as a basis for decisions about buying or selling stock options.