Two key rail lines leading into Bulgaria, from Romania and Serbia, will be closed for long periods over the next year, a situation considered concerning by Sofia. The Bulgarian Ministry of Transport worries “that the simultaneous restriction of both routes will seriously affect freight flows between Central Europe, the Balkans and Türkiye.”
The two lines are the Niš-Dimitrovgrad, in Serbia, and the Giurgiu-Ruse cross-border section between Romania and Bulgaria. The first one will be closed for around 200 days starting next month, according to the Bulgarian ministry. The second one will be shut down between April and December next year.
“Bulgarian railway carriers have already expressed concerns about the consequences of the planned restrictions and the need to find workable alternatives”, Sofia’s minister Georgi Peev said in an online meeting with his Serbian and Romanian counterparts. One of Peev’s suggestions included the preliminary determination of time slots for freight trains, which would avoid a complete disruption of traffic.
Inevitable closures
The closure of these two lines is necessary to modernise them and enable the transit of longer and faster trains. Railways have been neglected for decades all over Europe, and many governments have now decided to carry out intensive works to catch up. However, this often means multiple simultaneous closures, with a significant impact on rail freight services.
For example, Romania’s 2026-2030 railway strategy highlighted how, over the past 36 years, the lines overdue for maintenance skyrocketed from 10% to 73%, for a total of over 9,000 kilometres. Similarly, Germany has been implementing a massive rail renovation plan which is putting a strain on operators all over Europe.
The situation is thus dire in most of Europe, where the current network is not in condition to help meet the goals set by the EU and boost the modal shift to rail. At the same time, fixing it requires lines to be closed, often for longer periods of time. Until most of these projects are complete, the rail freight sector finds itself in a limbo fighting for its survival, as ERFA recently pointed out.