The cabinet’s launched the railway line to Vidin

The construction of the key Vidin – Sofia railway line is taking a step forward. By decision of the Council of Ministers the government’s expropriating private properties in the territories of the town of Brusartsi and the villages of Knyazheva Mahala and Dubova Mahala. The land’s needed for the implementation of the railway line between Vidin and Medkovets.

The project is of national importance, part of the Trans-European Transport Corridor “Ориент/Източно Средиземноморски” and the “Ориент коридор” freight railway corridor of the TENT-T network, as well as part of the “Мездра юг – Руска Бяла и Мездра – Видин” railway line .

Today’s decision effectively “отпушва” work on the section between Medkovets and Dabova Mahala. We’d like to remind you that last year the first 5.2 km in the territory of the village of Medkovets were expropriated.

The National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) will pay compensation to the owners and they can appeal the decision before the Supreme Administrative Court within 14 d.

The modernization of the 44 km route between Medkovets and Vidin is shaping up to be one of the most expensive infrastructure projects in the country. The total cost of the project is already approaching €512 million (BGN 1 billion) including VAT and it’s divided into three main sections.

The first stage, which is the subject of today’s expropriations, is being carried out by the consortium DZZD “Medkovets VO 2025” (with Slovenian and Czech participation). The contract for this lot was signed on October 1, 2025, for €88.5 million (BGN 173.2 million) excluding VAT. Although this is the shorter section it’s critically important for connecting the railway junction in Dubova Mahala with the rest of the network.

We’d like to remind you that the government surprisingly allocated nearly €291.4 million (BGN 570 million) in national co-financing. The funds weren’t included in the initial budget but were provided through a ministerial decree in the last days of 2025.

The other section between Dubova Mahala and Sratsimir was awarded to a consortium led by GBS Infrastructure Construction for nearly €306 million (BGN 600 million) excluding VAT.

The goal of this large-scale investment is to achieve speeds of up to 160 km/h for passenger trains, which would radically change the economic profile of the poorest region in the European Union.

Translated with DeepL.