The longest and most modern road tunnel built so far in Bulgaria, tunnel Zheleznitsa, close to the city of Simitli, was inaugurated.
- 21 February 2024
Yesterday, the tunnel was constructed with Cohesion Policy funding, amounting to EUR 120 million, through the Operational Programme “Transport and Transport Infrastructure” 2014-2020.
The inauguration ceremony, held in the presence of the Bulgarian Prime Minister, the President of the National Assembly, the Minister of Transport, Communications and the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, and the Commission Representation Office in Bulgaria, constitutes a crucial step forward in Bulgaria's efforts to improve road safety and to promote sustainable transport development.
Marina Kirova, from the Commission Representation in Sofia, highlighted the positive impact of this investment for citizens, as the tunnel will increase road safety, help reduce emissions and reduce the travel time for cross-border and interurban traffic. The facility is equipped with an intelligent management system and has four pedestrian crossings and another two for cars between the tubes, in case of an emergency.
The tunnel Zheleznitsa is part of the project Struma Motorway linking Sofia, Bulgaria, and Thessaloniki, Greece, , part of the Orient/East-Mediterranean corridor of the core TEN-T network. In a wider EU context, the motorway connects Hamburg, Germany to Thessaloniki. Moreover, the Bulgaria-Greece axis is also strategically significant because it may form part of the solidarity lanes needed for Ukraine to export goods after Russia's aggression.
Thanks to the EU funding of more than EUR 580 million over the two programming periods 2007–2013 and 2014–2020, the largest part of the Struma Motorway has been completed.
Since 2007, cohesion policy has financed:
- building of 374 km of road infrastructure
- renovation of 1745 km of roads
- modernization of 375 km of railway infrastructure.
EU Cohesion Policy funds will continue to support the development of the sustainable transport infrastructure and the improvement of road safety in Bulgaria by investing EUR 1.9 billion (of which EUR 1.6 billion EU funding) from the 2021-2027 Transport Connectivity Programme.