Train Services on Tracks 1 to 11 at Sofia Central Station to Be Suspended from 2 November Until March Next Year

A new phase of the renovation of Sofia Central Railway Station is beginning. From 2 November until March next year, train services on tracks 1 to 11 will be suspended. The reconstruction will require temporary changes to train operations, and some passengers will have to change trains at Poduyane and Iskar stations. Renovation work at Sofia station is being carried out without suspending or interrupting train services.

Four and a half months. That is how long this phase of the reconstruction will last.

Eng. Plamen Dobrev, Director of the Train Traffic and Capacity Management Division at the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC): “Trains will run only on track 12 at Sofia station, tracks 13 and 14, and the second, fourth and sixth terminal tracks. Routes in all the directions served by Sofia station will remain operational.”

Currently, eight tracks at Sofia station are used to serve passengers. From next week, only five will remain in operation.

Petranka Dimitrova: “We won’t take it very well. Let’s hope everything goes smoothly. They carry out renovations, and then, within a few months, things are back to the same state.”

Because of the renovation, Georgi will be temporarily assigned to Iskar station.

Georgi Argirov, Sofia Central Railway Station employee: “This will certainly cause inconvenience. Most of the colleagues who work at the station live outside Sofia. Every morning, they get up at 3 or 4 am to arrive by 6. Now they’ll have to spend another 30 minutes travelling to one terminal station or another.”

Eng. Plamen Dobrev, Director of the Train Traffic and Capacity Management Division at the NRIC: “A diesel railcar will run from Sofia station to Poduyane and Iskar stations, and back from Iskar and Poduyane to Sofia. Passengers will simply have to change trains between Poduyane Passenger Station and Iskar station, depending on the train they need to catch.”

Albena Aleksova, ticketing and information officer at Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ): “People have already got used to the renovation at Sofia-North station. They are concerned about how passengers with reduced mobility, older people and those carrying more luggage will manage the transfers. Notices will be put up indicating the transfer times and which trains they will need to take.”

Alongside the new phase of work, the existing renovation on the route from Sofia station towards north-western Bulgaria is also continuing. This project likewise involves transferring passengers from Sofia station to Sofia-North station. It is expected that by the middle of next year, passengers will be able to travel without changing trains.