BULGARIA’s infrastructure manager NRIC has awarded two contracts worth a total of €268.11m ($US 312.69m) for construction work on the line connecting Sofia with North Macedonia. The two countries will be linked by a new tunnel to be built near Gyueshevo.
According to Bulgarian news outlet Seenow, NRIC has chosen a consortium of Bulgarian construction companies Interconnecta and SA.I.E to upgrade the Sofia - Pernik - Radomir section of line, under a contract valued at €216.68m. The work, which involves removing all level crossings and upgrading the double-track line for speeds of up to 160km/h, is due for completion by mid-2029.
A separate consortium, comprising Bulgarian civil engineering companies Trace Group and VDH has been selected by NRIC to design and build 2.4km of new line between Gyueshevo and the border with North Macedonia, including renovation of the existing track layout and station building at Gyueshevo. The contract, valued at €51.43m, is due for completion by the end of 2028.
In November, Bulgaria and Macedonia signed an agreement for the joint construction of the 2.4 km cross-border rail tunnel, forming part of the European Union’s (EU) TEN-T Western Balkans-Eastern Mediterranean Corridor, connecting Albania's Adriatic port of Durres with Bulgaria's Black Sea port of Varna via North Macedonia. It is unclear when work on the €2bn project is likely to begin and no date has yet been given for its completion.
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