May 9 (SeeNews) - The European Commission said it approved a three-year Bulgarian state aid scheme worth 32 million euro ($35.1 million) to support the greater use of rail for freight and passenger transport.
The financing, to be provided under the country's Recovery and Resilience Plan, will take the form of direct grants to rail companies to enable them to integrate the European Train Control System (ETCS) Level 2, the core signalling and train control component of the common European Rail Traffic Management System, into existing rolling stock in Bulgaria, the Commission said in a press release on Monday.
The grants will run until April 30, 2026. Their purpose is to enhance rail interoperability across the borders of EU member states, to improve rail transport competitiveness and shift more traffic to railways from roads so as to reduce traffic congestion and pollution in line with Green Deal and sustainable mobility targets.
Bulgaria's Transport Connectivity Programme, the first one to be approved last year from the new 2021-2027 operating period, includes projects such as the construction and repair of railway sections along the Orient/Eastern-Mediterranean corridor, including a railway connection between Bulgaria and North Macedonia, and the rehabilitation of railway lines linking Sofia with the Serbian border.
Last month, the Bulgarian transport ministry started public consultations on a 126 million levs ($70.7 million/64.4 million euro) project by the National Railway Infrastructure Company to purchase and install ETCS on-board equipment on 108 electric locomotives and railcars. As much as 50% of the project cost will be funded through state grants.
($ = 0.9105 euro)