Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Zheleznitsa, longest tunnel in Bulgaria opens to traffic

Zheleznitsa tunnel
Photo: BGNES

With an official ceremony, Zheleznitsa tunnel on Struma motorway was opened to traffic. The tunnel is 2 kms. long, and it is the longest tunnel built in the country. Struma motorway is part of the Orient/East–Med Corridor, linking Vidin with Kulata, catering to the traffic to Greece. It is the shortest route between Western and Central Europe towards Thessaloniki and the Aegean Sea, connecting Europe with Asia. Sofia is expecting a positive response by the European Commission, within a fortnight, regarding the last section of the motorway across Kresna Gorge. “The proposal is for it to pass East of the gorge,” said Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Andrey Tsekov, and added that an optimistic deadline for the completion of Struma motorway would be 2028.

Mayors of municipalities adjacent to the motorway demanded the construction, as a matter of urgency, of an additional road link to Simitly, where traffic towards Bansko-Gotze Delchev-Greece can be diverted to avoid congestion after the new tunnel Zheleznitsa.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

A white fairy tale from Burgas!
Photo: Marina Kirova in the Facebook group

Frosty weather, subzero temperatures expected in almost all regions of Bulgaria on Thursday

On Thursday, the minimum temperatures in Bulgaria will be between minus 14 °C and minus 8°C. In Sofia, it will be around minus 12°C. The day will be sunny but frosty. The thermometer values ​​in most places will be negative. Before noon, there will be..

published on 2/19/25 7:05 PM

Bulgaria honors the memory of national hero Vasil Levski

With various events throughout the country Bulgarians are marking 152 years after the death of the Apostle of Bulgarian Freedom Vasil Levski. Today, at 6:00 p.m. a memorial ceremony in front of the monument to the Apostle of Freedom in Sofia takes..

published on 2/19/25 6:08 PM
Dimitar Radev

Request for extraordinary report on readiness for eurozone membership will be signed

BNB Governor Dimitar Radev will sign the request for an extraordinary convergence report on the fulfillment of the criteria for eurozone membership. This is clear from his response in an interview with BTA, in which Radev announced that the Central..

published on 2/19/25 5:33 PM