New Ukraine‑Bulgaria train via Bucharest
A new rail connection linking Ukraine and Bulgaria will pass through Bucharest starting in June, with journeys described as taking 'dozens of hours' across the route. (x.com)
Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine say a daily passenger train linking Kyiv and Varna through Bucharest and Ruse will start running in June. (bta.bg) The three countries agreed the main operating terms at a meeting in Ruse on April 3, attended by Bulgaria’s Deputy Transport Minister Murad Turk, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister Oleksii Balesta, railway officials and border police. (bta.bg) Bulgaria’s Transport Ministry said the service is planned for June, July and August at first, with passenger numbers to be reviewed after three months before any decision on year-round operation. Ticket prices have not been finalized. (bta.bg) The route builds on rail links that have become more important since Ukraine’s airspace closed after Russia’s full-scale invasion, pushing more international travel onto trains and border crossings. Ukraine already has a daily Kyiv-Bucharest train that takes about 24 hours. (railwaypro.com) For Bulgaria, the new service extends Bucharest’s role as the main interchange between Ukrainian rail services and the Balkans. BDZ, Bulgaria’s state passenger railway, already runs the Sofia-Ruse-Bucharest international service under the current 2025-2026 timetable. (bdz.bg) Romania’s national passenger operator, CFR Călători, is also running its 2025-2026 timetable with 52 international trains, giving the new corridor an existing cross-border network to plug into rather than requiring a standalone system from scratch. (cfrcalatori.ro) Officials have framed the line as both a passenger route and a regional transport link. Bulgaria’s ministry said the service would improve connectivity and logistics routes across Eastern and Southeastern Europe, while Ukrainian officials have presented it as part of closer integration with European transport networks. (bta.bg) (railwaypro.com) The new train also revives part of an older map. Railway Pro reported that the former Bulgaria Express once linked Moscow, Kyiv, Bucharest and Sofia until December 2014; this summer’s service restores a Ukraine-Romania-Bulgaria passenger axis, but on a new wartime timetable and with Varna on the Black Sea as the Bulgarian endpoint. (railwaypro.com)
