Strabag along with its local consortium partner has won a €202m contract of Lot 3 for the modernisation of the Elin Pelin–Kostenets railway line in Bulgaria.

Strabag holds a 51% stake in the consortium. The contract includes the detailed design of an 11.2km railway line for both passenger and freight traffic with operating speeds of up to 160kmph.

The consortium has also been given the responsibility of the construction of the line as well as eight tunnels with a total length of 5.5km, viaducts, 11 bridges and the signalling infrastructure.

About 400,000m³ of concrete is expected to be used for the project, which is expected to be completed within 66 months.

The Elin Pelin–Kostenets railway modernisation project between the towns of Elin Pelin and Kostenets in Western Bulgaria, is part of a high-speed railway line between the two largest cities in the country, Sofia and Plovdiv.

The railway line is on the Orient/East Med corridor of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) and the corridor crosses eight European Union countries, from Berlin in Germany to Athens in Greece, creating important rail connections across central and southern European countries.

The railway corridor is expected to offer smoother travel and exchange for Bulgaria and its neighbouring countries.

The Elin Pelin–Kostenets railway project has been divided into three construction sections, with a contract value that costs a total of €517m.

In April this year, Strabag and its joint venture partners Skanska and Costain, had secured a contract for the phase 1 of the High Speed Two (HS2), the planned high-speed rail line linking London and Birmingham.

The contract involves the design and construction of the Euston Tunnels and Approaches and the Northolt Tunnels. In the stage 1, the joint venture partners will design and prepare the site for the main civil works.

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The railway line linking Sofia and Plovdiv in Bulgaria. (Credit: STRABAG SE.)