In Bulgaria has begun the construction of railway tunnel on the Elin Pelin-Vakarel line. The 6,8 km dual-bore rail tunnel is the longest one in the Balkans and forms a part of the Elin Pelin –Kostenec railways line upgrade project.

The modernization programme foresees, additionally, the electrification of 20 km section of the Elin Pelin –Vakarel line, upgrading works on signaling and controlling devices as well as building new station Elin Pelin. The upgrade contract for signaling and controlling equipment was concluded in 2020 with the Bombardier Transportation company (nowadays a part of Alstom company). The works on the line shall be completed in 5 years and then the passenger trains will be allowed to travel at 160 km/h and the freight trains at 120 km/h.

The contract of 498,8 m Lev. (225 m Euro) is conducted by the Cen-Duy Railway Elin Pelin Consortium, formed by two Turkish companies Gengiz and Duygu. The project is being partially funded through the European Union’s Fund for Bulgaria`s transport and transport infrastructure development in the financial perspective to 2024. The railway line forms a part of the East-West transport corridor and is very important for Bulgaria and the adjacent countries which are traversed by the Trans-European corridor no 8.

The total investment in railway project carried recently out in the country amount 1,1, m Lev ( 562,4 m Euro), according to the statement of the Bulgaria`s Ministry of transport.