In
Brief
Macedonian section of Corridor VIII to be concessioned
At his
meeting with the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Policy,
Solomon Passy, the Macedonian Minister of Transport
and Communications, Mile Janakievski, stated that
funding for the infrastructure construction of Corridor VIII will be
accumulated through the concessioning of the section.
According to the Minister, such a concession would be the best solution for the
rapid construction of the Kumanovo-Gueshevo railway
line.
Pazardzhik station to be rebuilt
Pazardzhik
station, which was built more than 30 years ago and has never been thoroughly
overhauled since, is to be rebuilt. The reconstruction works will be
implemented in two phases, the first of which will cost about BGN1 million for modernisation and reconstruction of the building and
adjacent area. Information displays and the water supply and drainage system as
well as electrical installations will be modernised.
Under the second phase, the access ways to the station, the technical
facilities and signalling systems, as well as all the
catering facilities, will be overhauled. The total cost of the project is BGN3
million.
“Moststroi” launches railway
production
In
September, “Moststroi” officially established a
daughter company – Rels Remont
Ltd. – which will produce and repair rails and rail units and will also trade
in spare parts for railway rolling stock.
The accident at Kazichene
explained
According
to the Director of the Railway Inspection Directorate within the Ministry of
Transport, Anton Burov, the reasons for the accident
at Kazichene station in August were the different
levels of the two rails, as well as the ill-distributed load in the derailed
freight wagon. The difference between the levels of the two rails was three
times higher than the admissible norm. The damages from the accident amount to
BGN100,000.
More attention to the private sector
At a press
conference held in mid-September, the Minister of Transport, Petar Mutafchiev, underlined that
until now there has been no long-term approach to the elaboration of
infrastructure development programmes. He said that
henceforth it would be necessary to establish conditions for the strengthening
of the private sector role, including by means of airport, port, railway
station and highway concessions. A serious opportunity to attract still greater
transit traffic will be the planned construction of intermodal
terminals in eight regions of the country.
Cooperation agreement between BDZ and DB
On 18th
September 2006 in
A pilot Ro-La train via Bulgaria
On 19th
September, the pilot Ro-La train, operating along the route from
Railways get BGN20 million more from the Government
The
Government has allocated an additional amount of BGN20 million from the yearly
budget for the needs of the railways. A portion of this funding will cover the
VAT of the nine diesel train-sets, which Siemens has delivered to BDZ, and
which have been waiting for customs clearance because of the lack of finance.
According to the Ministry of Transport, by 2020 a credit of BGN2.6 billion will
be earmarked for the reconstruction of railway infrastructure; in 2007 this
credit will amount to BGN200 million.
On 29th
September, at the exit switches of Vlado Trichkov station six coaches of the fast train No 2626 from
At a press
conference on the occasion, the Minister of Transport, Petar
Mutafchiev, stated that this accident is one more
example of the grave situation in the railways. The restoration of the
permanent way will cost over half a million leva.
According to Minister Mutafchiev, the topmost
problems of Bulgarian railways are the poor condition of the permanent way and
the rolling stock, as any solution of these problems has been postponed for
fifteen years. In his turn, the Deputy Director General of NRIC, Vesselin Kozhuharov, underlined
that BGN120 million are necessary for the eradication of dangerous tracks. The
Executive Director of BDZ EAD, Oleg Petkov, announced
that the company now needs at least 600 more freight wagons, and in 2007 this
number will grow to 2,000. Every day BDZ operates with 91
passenger coaches too few.
Siemens invests in a transformer production facility
In
September, the Prime Minister, Sergei Stanishev, and the Vice President of the German concern
Siemens, Christian Urbanke, opened the new Siemens
production facility in Botevgrad, which will produce
components for high-voltage equipment and in which the company invested over
BGN4 million. This production facility will produce and assemble parts for
measuring transformers for a plant in
Increased NRIC losses from theft
In recent
years there has been a dramatic increase in the losses incurred by NRIC as a
result of theft and other offences against signalling
and telecommunication equipment, power supply systems and catenary
line, rails, switches, fastening elements, etc. In 2004, the total number of
thefts was 1 152, the losses from which amounted to BGN1,102,218, while in 2005
there were 987 thefts, causing losses of BGN1,068,379. In the first seven
months of 2006, there were 940 thefts, the losses from which amount to BGN1,976,074. These thefts threaten the safety of train traffic;
they can cause an accident and are an actual threat to the life of the
passengers. The monthly losses incurred by NRIC amount to BGN200,000. In this connection, the company proposes that a number
of measures should be taken, including the withdrawal of licences
of scrap-metal dealers who breach the law, and the adoption of legislative
changes, by virtue of which any offence against railway infrastructure should
be treated as life-threatening.
A common “umbrella” is necessary for railway carriers
Talking to
Darik Radio, the Executive Director of BDZ EAD, Oleg Petkov, stated that there should be some common “umbrella”
for all railway carriers, including the private operators, and the
infrastructure manager. He also announced that since the beginning of 2006, BDZ
has transported 385 thousand passengers more than in the same period in 2005,
i.e. there is a 2 % growth.
In an
interview for the same radio station, the Deputy Director General of NRIC, Vesselin Kozhuharov, underlined
that at least BGN90 million are necessary for the railway lines in order to
improve the permanent way condition. According to him, the funding, which would
guarantee a fully reliable and safe permanent way, should amount to BGN2.5
billion.
Hessen state interested in Bulgarian
railway projects
On 10th
October, the Minister of Transport, Petar Mutafchiev, met in
Meeting of the European transport ministers
The
Transport Minister, Petar Mutafchiev,
took part in the meeting of the EU Council of Transport Ministers, held on 12th
October in
Discussion on freight services by rail
On 11th
October, the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) organised
a meeting between the largest Bulgarian freight customers and the Executive
Director of BDZ EAD, Oleg Petkov. According to him
the interests of BDZ and Bulgarian business fully coincide, and both parties
suffer to an equal degree from the poor condition of the railway
infrastructure. He announced that the company achieved a 5% growth of freight
services in the first seven months of 2006, which is insufficient, though, in
the context of the growth of industrial production volumes. He said that BDZ
will need at least 1,500 new wagons in 2007. The participants in the meeting
stated that the company will need at least BGN200 million for the
rehabilitation of its main assets. Most of the participants consider that one
of the mechanisms for the solution of this problem would be the restructuring of
BDZ into a holding company, i.e. the splitting up of freight and passenger
services. The meeting decided to establish a joint working group, which will
elaborate the necessary urgent measures to be implemented in the railway sphere
and will present them to the Prime Minister and the Ministers of Transport,
Finance and Economy.
The final tender out for
On 2nd
October, the final phase was launched of the tender procedure for design and
construction works for the new combined (road and rail) bridge over the Danube
at