GREECE-BULGARIA FREIGHT CORRIDOR TO SHIFT CARGO TO RAIL
The much discussed Sea2Sea project, which aims to develop a railway corridor connecting the Greek ports of Thessaloniki, Kavala and Alexandroupolis to the Bulgarian Black Sea ports of Varna and Burgas, is now making steps towards implementation. Greece and Bulgaria plan to establish a joint company to manage the project and seek to include it in the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF II) financial program.
Greece will invest circa €4 billion, targeting the railway links between Thessaloniki and Toxotes, passing through the port of Kavala and the Alexandroupolis- Ormenio line that extends to the Greek-Bulgarian border. According to ERGOSE, a subsidiary of the Hellenic Railways Organisation, the transit time between Thessaloniki and Alexandroupolis will decrease by three hours. The project could draw a considerable percentage of containerised cargo that traditionally transits via the Bosphorus, indicating that ‘’the shift from sea to rail could amount to €650 million of cargo per year.” The project’s construction contracts will be signed in 2023, and it should be completed by 2027-2028.
Source: RailFreight.com