Sofia – Dragoman railway modernisation

Design and construction contract: BGN 199,850,060.56 excluding VAT, 10 km of double line (NRIC). Scope: new third electrified track from Sofia Central to Voluyak, new six-track Obelya station with a link to the metro, new station buildings at Voluyak and Obelya, renewed Nadezhda and Vrabnitsa stops. Contract signed on 30 October 2020; construction was officially launched on 13 July 2021; NRIC still lists Obelya station as to be built. A separate signalling and ERTMS contract (IRTMS KA Voluyak DZZD, BGN 45,499,420.29 excluding VAT) is not included in the figure above. The stated length includes the station track layouts; the line drawn between the two station centres measures 8.0 km on OpenStreetMap.

Partial doubling of the single-track electrified line for 160 km/h passenger and 120 km/h freight trains. A new second track is built from Voluyak to Aldomirovtsi West (km 9+200 – 36+420); stations Kostinbrod, Petarch, Aldomirovtsi and Dragoman are rebuilt and a new Slivnitsa station is added. Two contracts of 22 March 2021: no. 11366, Voluyak – Petarch (about 12 km of doubling, BGN 91,999,000 excluding VAT), DZZD VISTRA; no. 11365, Petarch – Dragoman (about 17 km of doubling and 6.5 km of single-track modernisation, plus signalling, BGN 275,000,000 excluding VAT), TERNA AD. Works started on Petarch – Dragoman on 20 January 2023 and on Voluyak – Petarch on 18 September 2024. NRIC put overall physical progress at nearly 43% on 27 March 2025, with completion expected by the end of 2027, and reports significant delay. The ERTMS contractor was still being selected. The new border station beyond Dragoman, due by 2030, belongs to the Dragoman – Serbian border section.