The Bulgarian railway infrastructure holds a key position in the pan-European network, as corridor IV connects Istanbul to South-East Europe. As Turkey is the main origin and destination of international transit for intermodal services, it is obvious that the high percentage of freight volumes are carried on corridors IV and X, with connection to Western Europe. As centre of bilateral intermodal services, Sofia plays a crucial role, a significant volume of freight being shipped from here to Thessaloniki.
Bearing this in mind, terminals are vital in attracting freight flows, but require a performing infrastructure. “There cannot be intermodality without a performing infrastructure of terminals. In Bulgaria, demands will grow significantly and the use of the infrastructure capacity of terminals has to be exploited to maximum. We estimate an intermodal traffic in Bulgaria of 533,300 TEUs in 2020, at an annual growth rate of 14.1%. So, infrastructure is vital”, declared Eric Peetermans, Chairman of the UIC Combined Transport Group.
As regards the companies in need of transport services for their goods, Procter&Gamble, for example, will shift its freight volume from roads to railways and estimates that, by 2015, the volume of 100 lorries will be shifted to rails, which means reducing CO2 emissions by 67,500 tonnes/year, avoiding road tolls and reducing fuel consumption by 50%. “As companies are redirecting their transport flows to railways, the transport will grow and the terminals will also have to increase their capacity and extend their infrastructures”, said Ivo Konstatinov, Director Strategy&Trade, Ecologistics.
Positive estimates for freight transport and raising awareness about the importance of terminals has determined the Bulgarian authorities to launch infrastructure projects. Parvan Rusinov, Deputy Minister, said that the Ministry of Transport planned to develop an infrastructure necessary to the freight rail transport segment during 2010-2015, followed by projects on the infrastructure efficiency.
Intermodality needs collaboration not only for infrastructure projects, but also for services. Realistic chances should be considered to finalize the intended plans for the business sector. To that end, “BDZ is updating its investment and development programme for boosting the company’s incomes, reinforces cooperation with European railway operators and will provide new products for new markets: ferryboat transport Port Caucasus-Varna, Thessaloniki-Moscow, Thessaloniki-Sofia, ROLA transport”, pointed out Pencho Popov, BDZ’s CEO.
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