Greece and Bulgaria are planning an intermodal highway bypassing the Bosphorus
Greece and Bulgaria plan to build a railway line that will connect the port of Thessaloniki with Burgas, Varna and Rus on the Danube near the Bulgarian-Romanian border. The new line will allow transportation between the ports of the Aegean and Black Seas, bypassing the Turkish Straits.
Sea2Sea is a joint project between Greece and Bulgaria aimed at developing a railway corridor connecting the Greek ports of Thessaloniki, Kavala and Alexandroupolis with the Bulgarian Black Sea ports of Varna and Burgas, as well as the port of Ruse, located on the Danube and the Bulgarian-Romanian border.
Currently, preparations are being made to create a joint venture for infrastructure investments. Investments will be directed to the rail link between Thessaloniki and Toxotis, passing through the port of Kavala, and the Alexandroupolis-Ormenio line, which extends to the Greek-Bulgarian border.
The new railway line is a strategic project for Greece, which wants to strengthen the importance of ports on the Aegean Sea. In particular, Greek railways hope that thanks to the expansion and modernization of railway tracks, which will reduce the transit time of freight trains, the port of Thessaloniki will take over the handling of part of the container cargo transported by ships across the Bosphorus.
Once implemented, this project has the potential to attract a significant percentage of containerized cargo traditionally transported through the Bosphorus. The transition from sea transportation to rail can amount to 650 million euros per year," said the company ERGOSE, which manages the railway infrastructure of Greece.
According to ERGOSE research, the logistical value of the Sea2Sea project cannot be overlooked. At the time of the project's implementation, it can attract a significant percentage of container cargo, which traditionally transits through the Bosphorus.
The new railway line will be used for both freight and passenger transport. The Greeks note that the project is in line with the EU's policy of promoting sustainable intermodal transportation. In the future, it will be possible to extend this highway through the territory of Romania to Ukraine.
Contracts for the construction of the project will be signed in 2023, and work should be completed by 2028.