Bulgaria will establish the Lesovo cross-border railway connection — the second such link at its border with Turkey — the Minister of Transport and Communications, Grozdan Karadjov, announced during a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu.
The meeting took place in Sofia on 18 June 2025 and was attended by the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Rosen Zhelyazkov, the Minister of Transport, Grozdan Karadjov, and Turkey’s Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu. The participants discussed bilateral matters concerning transport cooperation between the two countries.
Bulgaria is currently preparing development options for the new cross-border railway along the Yambol – Elhovo – Lesovo – Turkish border – Edirne route, and “will submit them for discussion to the joint Bulgarian–Turkish working group,” Minister Karadjov said.
Preparatory activities have already begun on the Bulgarian side, with implementation plans drafted, including assessments of existing infrastructure, traffic forecasts, and capacity analysis.
The development of the Lesovo cross-border railway connection forms part of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2023 between Bulgaria and Turkey, which aims to enhance cooperation in the field of rail transport. This also includes accelerating the construction of the new cross-border link.
By streamlining border procedures, train waiting times are expected to decrease, thereby improving the competitiveness of rail transport in comparison to road transport.
The two ministers agreed that building a new railway line and border checkpoint would help alleviate congestion at one of Europe’s busiest crossings — between Svilengrad and Kapıkule. In 2022, a joint working group established by the two nations agreed to develop a new cross-border railway on the Svilengrad – Kapıkule line, currently the only rail link along the 374 km Plovdiv – Istanbul corridor.
“We have conducted comprehensive consultations on establishing the second cross-border railway connection as an alternative to Kapıkule. We have also discussed ways to improve the existing border crossing and facilitate the implementation of the joint project,” said Turkey’s Minister of Transport.
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