Bulgaria signs 128M leva deal for five more Škoda electric locomotives

Bulgarian caretaker Transport Minister Krassimira Stoyanova and Škoda Transportation and Škoda Vagonka board chairman and CEO Petr Novotny signed on November 7 an additional agreement on the supply of five more electric locomotives, to a value of 127.8 million leva without VAT, the ministry said.

The contract also includes maintenance for 15 years, as well as personnel training.

The new rolling stock has a capacity of at least 300 seats and a speed of up to 160 km/h. The delivery period is two years.

“Our proposal is that the additional trains serve passengers on the busy routes in northern Bulgaria – Rousse-Varna, Varna-Gorna Oryahovitsa-Mezdra, as well as on shorter distances such as Sofia-Dragoman,” Stoyanova said.

In all, Bulgaria will have 25 new Škoda electric locomotives by the end of 2026.

Czechia’s ambassador Miroslav Toman attended the signing ceremony at the Transport Ministry building in Sofia.

Stoyanova expressed thanks for the extremely quick reaction in using the opportunity provided by the contract with the Czech consortium for the order and delivery of new trains, the Transport Ministry said.

“We all know what a huge need the Bulgarian railways has for new rolling stock and the difficulties we face in securing it,” she said.

Stoyanova said that the European Commission for the first time accepts that the financing of railway rolling stock will be provided by the EU’s Transport Connectivity Programme 2021-2027.

Toman said that the best quality of trains provided by Czechia will be supplied.

“I believe that this deal will enable new modern locomotives because it is badly needed,” he said.

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