Bulgaria and Türkiye will be building a second rail border crossing. On the Bulgarian side, preparations are now ongoing to start working on the project. Once operational, the new crossing and accompanying railway should relieve the important Kapıkule border point.
Bulgaria has prepared implementation plans, an “analysis of the existing situation”, traffic forecasts and a capacity analysis, according to the country’s transport ministry. Those preparations follow a memorandum of understanding signed with Türkiye in 2023, in which the two countries committed to accelerating the construction of a new border crossing.
The new crossing, which will be located in the area of the town of Lesovo, should help relieve the Kapıkule border crossing. It is currently the only operational rail border point between Bulgaria and Türkiye.
In the future, the Kapıkule border crossing will see more traffic, and capacity relief is therefore necessary. Türkiye is working on a high-speed line, which will also be accessible for freight trains, to Kapıkule from Istanbul.
Turkish rail freight association DTD has highlighted the high-speed line to Kapıkule as significant for the country’s rail ambitions. “Funded in part by the EU, the project will strengthen Turkey’s integration into the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).” Once completed, the electrified double-track line will “improve both freight and passenger capacity, reduce transit time, and yield environmental benefits”