Bulgaria to Ink Deal with Turkey, China for High-Speed Railway

Bulgaria will very soon sign an agreement with Turkey and China on the construction of a high-speed railway, which will utilize the transport of Chinese goods to the EU.

This was announced by Bulgaria's Transport Minister Alexander Tsvetkov on the Bulgarian National Television Friday. He explained that the freight trains will have a maximum speed of 250 km/h.

"We will sign a trilateral agreement with Turkey and China, according to which the cargo will pass through the future Bosforus tunnel. The tunnel will be ready in a one and a half year's time, facilitating for the first time a direct rail link between Asia and Europe," Tsvetkov clarified.

He pointed out that the high speed railway between Ankara and Istanbul is already under construction and that it is planned to reach Bulgaria on its way to other parts of Europe.

In October, China has formally invited Bulgaria to join together with Turkey the project for a high-speed railway connection from the Far East to Europe, the so called China-Europe high-speed rail link.

The invitation resulted from talks in Beijing between Alexander Tsvetkov and China's Minister of Transport Li Shenglin, Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun, and leading Chinese railway companies.