BULGARIA’s Ministry of Transport and Communications has signed a contract with Alstom for the supply of 35 Coradia Stream EMUs and the provision of maintenance over 15 years for Bulgarian Railways’ (BDZ) new fleet.
Alstom is the lead partner in the BulEMU consortium with local company RVP Invest, which will provide the fleet maintenance facility. Alstom says that its share of the €720m contract is worth €600m.
The contract was signed on April 25 by Bulgaria’s deputy prime minister and minister of transport and communications, Grozdan Karadjov, and the CEO of Alstom for Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova, Gabriel Stancu.
Karadjov announced the deal with Alstom in the Bulgarian parliament on March 7, with the contract signed following the expiry of the statutory appeal period. Tendering the contract has proved controversial, with Stadler withdrawing its bid after being selected as preferred bidder in June 2024.
The first 12 trains will be delivered by August 2026 and funded entirely using Lev 363m ($US 210.7m) from the National Recovery and Sustainability Plan (NRSP). Karadjov thanked the European Commission for the flexibility shown to enable the use of European funds for the order. Funding of Lev 696m for the remaining 23 trains will come from the Social Climate Plan of the Republic of Bulgaria.
The trains
The multi-voltage, six-car trains will be deployed on both regional and long-distance routes with journey times of four to five hours. They will be equipped with ETCS Level 2 and will have a top speed of 160km/h. The 100% low-floor sets will have 351 seats. There will be two doors on each side of the intermediate cars and one door per side on the end cars.
Modern passenger information systems will be installed along with large luggage racks in each car, along with power sockets, and a digital passenger counting system. There will be designated spaces for bicycles and pushchairs while each train will have four toilets, including one for passengers with reduced mobility.
“These trains will enable the implementation of the state policy for passenger rail transport, which aims to attract more passengers through a more regular service that is of higher quality, more comfortable and with reduced emissions,” Karadjov says.
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