Bulgarian Railways to Cut Sofia-Burgas Train Travel Time to Around 5 Hours Starting June

Starting June 15, traveling by train from Sofia to Burgas will take around five hours, a significant improvement for summer travelers heading to the coast. Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) will operate one daily train with three carriages running from the capital to Varna and Burgas, stopping only two or three times along the route. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Grozdan Karadjov announced this during a visit to Burgas station, where he shared his experience of a non-stop trip along the sub-Balkan line that took 5 hours and 32 minutes.

Karadjov noted that despite ongoing track repairs slowing some sections to 25 km/h, other stretches allowed speeds of 120-130 km/h. Once the repair work is complete and stops are further minimized, the Sofia-Burgas journey could be cut to 5 hours and 10 minutes, achievable from mid-June. The minister and his team estimate saving 15 to 20 minutes compared to current travel times. Although the train carriages are 25 years old, Karadjov emphasized their comfort and added that onboard bistro services will offer coffee, soft drinks, and food. He hopes that these improvements will make rail travel a strong competitor to road transport by eliminating traffic jams and accidents, while ensuring punctual departures and arrivals. The round-trip ticket price will be 63 leva.

The sub-Balkan railway line, mostly modernized, provides a suitable infrastructure to connect Sofia and Burgas in roughly five hours, which the minister said is quite competitive with bus travel. Over recent years, BDZ has introduced faster seasonal train connections between Sofia and the coast. According to the current BDZ timetable checked by "Sega," starting June 15, travel on the sub-Balkan line will shorten: train BV3621 is scheduled to cover Sofia to Burgas in 5 hours and 50 minutes, departing at 6:15 and arriving at 12:05, though it still stops at 15 stations along the route. Currently, the fastest scheduled train takes 6 hours and 12 minutes, leaving Sofia at 6:50 and arriving in Burgas at 13:02. It is possible that faster trains with fewer stops have yet to be officially listed.

Looking ahead, discussions are underway about faster rail connections between Northern and Southern Bulgaria. Karadjov pointed out the absence of a railway tunnel causes delays, wasting hours to cover relatively short distances of 20-30 km. The government has identified three potential tunnel locations: near Stolnik outside Sofia, where a 15 km tunnel project exists; near Hristo Dimovo by Troyan; and near Hainboaz, where multiple tunnels could link Veliko Tarnovo with southern routes. These projects aim to improve travel efficiency and connectivity across the country.