Rail transport

Siemens Mobility now offers its Smartron electric locomotives pre-configured for use in Bulgaria and Romania.

The Smartron was launched in 2018 as a budget version of Siemens' Vectron modular locomotive. It is offered in the standard specification including the Capri Blue livery, offering freight operators faster delivery times and a lower cost than the configurable Vectron family.

The world-famous Orient Express train will also stop at Gorna Oryahovitsa Station. It is expected to arrive in the railway city on August 31 and will only stay at the station for half an hour - from 6.50 to 7.20, when he will leave in the direction of Ruse.

The legendary Orient Express train, which runs from Paris to Istanbul, stopped in the early afternoon at the Ruse Central Railway Station, BTA reports. The train was scheduled to arrive at 12:45 but was 45 minutes late.

Ellaktor, the construction group that is building the Thessaloniki metro, has openly contradicted operator Attiko Metro's assertion that the often-delayed project is nearing its final stages and that the main line will open in 2020.

Transport authorities are mulling the reopening of the section of the Athens tram network that runs between the neighborhood of Neos Kosmos and downtown Syntagma Square which was suspended last October amid concerns that the ground beneath the tracks was at risk of subsiding.
According to officials, fears about the potential risks were exaggerated.

A train with a graffiti-decorated locomotive departed today, August 13, from Sofia to Bourgas. The idea of the Bulgarian state railway company, BDZ, is one of a kind and aims to show that painting in an urban environment can have a beautiful end result, reports BNT. 

The new government has replaced several high-ranking executives at the Athens Urban Rail Transport Company (STASY).
The replacements came after a number of problems became apparent in the operations of the metro, especially as regards the frequency of trains.

Infrastructure manager NRIC has awarded the ERTMS CA Voluyak DZZD consortium of local company AER and CAF Signalling a  contract to modernise signalling and telecoms on the 12 km route from Sofia to Obelya and Voluyak.

Announcing the contract win on August 1, CAF Signalling said this was a strategic project for Bulgaria, as the route includes the capital's main station.

А passenger train locomotive derailed between Levski and Troyan because of the incorrect passage of a truck through a railway crossing, National Rail Infrastructure Company reported. The incident occurred around 10:00 am.

The truck driver is injured.

The passengers will be transported by bus. The movement of trains in the area is disturbed,  BNR informs.

Service between Syntagma and the Acropolis station on the Athens metro has resumed as bomb disposal experts gave the all clear after examining a "suspicious" suitcase.

The abandoned suitcase was spotted at the Acropolis metro station earlier in the day, prompting metro authorities to close the station and call in bomb experts to assess the situation.