EU invests in three projects for sustainable, safe and efficient transport structure in Bulgaria
The European Commission has selected 135 transport infrastructure projects for EU grants out of a total of 399 project proposals submitted under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the EU instrument for financing strategic investments in transport infrastructure. The funding will support projects in all EU Member States on the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). For example, in the context of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, several projects in Slovakia and Poland will facilitate the transport of goods between Europe and Ukraine. Projects in the Member States also include the creation of secure and safe truck parking infrastructure, the upgrading of the main port infrastructure, including shore-side electricity to reduce emissions from docked ships, improving cross-border inland waterway connections and a series of pilot digital European sky demonstration systems for green aviation and urban air mobility.
During the Connecting Europe Days in Lyon, Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean said: “Today, we are earmarking EUR 5.4 billion for projects across Europe that will improve missing infrastructure links, make transport more sustainable and efficient, increase safety and interoperability, and create jobs. These difficult times have strengthened the importance of our transport sector in the EU and the existence of a continuous and well-connected infrastructure network. In particular, projects such as the modernisation of the Haniska pri Košicich rail transhipment terminal will further facilitate our connections with Ukraine.”
Three projects will be funded in Bulgaria:
- Modernisation of the Vidin-Sofia railway line in the section of Medkovets Sratsimir, aiming to build 45 km of the railway line between Sofia and Vidin in this section, which will be electrified, interoperable and reliable and will serve passenger and freight trains more efficiently.
- Multimodal logistics platform Sofia-West (Railway Terminal Voluyak) — the project aims to upgrade the terminal near Sofia in order to update the transhipment facility, to develop the access of the regional industry to rail intermodal freight transport and to significantly improve transport flows between Member States
- Increase of multimodal low-emission transport in the main port of Burgas with new infrastructures for Berth 28. The aim is to create a new port area dedicated to the movement of containers treated with green cranes and transported by rail throughout Europe.
These grants constitute the main part of the Connecting Europe Facility funding under the calls of September 2021 and are a continuation of investments in military mobility and alternative fuels projects in April 2022.