Bulgaria: The first two trains began running on four intercity routes from 1 September. The network will grow as more units enter service.
The six-car, low-floor Coradia Stream trains can reach 160 km/h and carry the European ETCS train control system. Each set seats 325 passengers across 1st and 2nd class, with space for passengers with reduced mobility, prams, bicycles and luggage.
The trains are being supplied to Bulgaria’s Ministry of Transport and Communications as part of the country’s first renewal of its passenger fleet in 20 years. The ministry ordered 35 electric trains in April 2025 for €452 mln from a consortium of Alstom and the local firm RVP Invest, with a further €268 mln going towards 15 years of maintenance at a new depot near Sofia.
The tender had set a very tight delivery schedule, and Alstom won partly on the strength of a guarantee to deliver the trains within 2.3 years. It can meet that timeline because it already builds similar trains for Romania at its plant in Katowice, Poland.
Bulgaria also put 20 regional electric trains from the Czech Republic’s Skoda Group into service in August, ordered under the same programme back in 2024. Five more trains are due to enter service before the end of the year.
