Train routes in Bulgaria
13 routes · classic 10 · night train 1 · scenic 2
13 routes cross Bulgaria in the World Train Map atlas. The longest is the Bosfor Express at 585 km; the fastest is the BDŽ Fast Train Plovdiv, running up to 130 km/h; the oldest line dates to 1866. Every route links to its facts, photo and story, and to the interactive world map.
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Classic (10)
- BDŽ Fast Train Plovdiv
Bulgaria’s busiest intercity corridor, being rebuilt for 200 km/h, tying the capital to Plovdiv, one of Europe’s oldest cities.
Wikipedia (BG) ↗ - BDŽ Fast Train Varna
Crosses the Balkan range and the Danubian plain to Varna, Bulgaria’s summer capital on the Black Sea coast.
Wikipedia (BG) ↗ - BDŽ Fast Train Burgas
Runs via Plovdiv and Stara Zagora to Burgas, the port at the heart of Bulgaria’s southern Black Sea beaches.
- BDZ Fast Train
Capital to the Danube: through the Iskar gorge, across the Pleven plain, down to Ruse’s Habsburg-flavoured riverfront and the bridge to Romania.
- Plovdiv–Karlovo railway
North out of Plovdiv to the Rose Valley at Karlovo under the Balkan range, sixty one kilometres opened on 28 September 1933.
Wikipedia (BG) ↗ - Ruse–Kaspichan railway
The first railway ever built in Bulgaria, opened on 7 November 1866 from the Danube quays at Ruse toward the Black Sea, and still line 9 of the national network.
- Bucharest–Sofia
Two capitals in a day: south from Bucharest to the Danube, over the 1954 Friendship Bridge at Giurgiu into Ruse, then across the Bulgarian plain by Gorna Oryahovitsa and Pleven to Sofia.
- Varna–Shumen railway
The last 24 km into Shumen opened on 20 June 1895; everything east of Kaspichan is the first railway built in what is now Bulgaria, the Ruse to Varna line of 1866.
- Varna–Burgas railway
Begun in 1916, abandoned, and finished in the war: Karnobat to Komunari opened in 1942 and the last stretch down the Kamchia valley in 1943, joining Bulgaria’s two Black Sea cities directly.
Wikipedia ↗ - Varna–Dobrich railway
Built to carry Dobruja’s harvest to the sea: the branch from Devnya reached Dobrich in 1910, and five BDŽ trains a day still link the town with the port of Varna.
Wikipedia ↗
Night train (1)
- Bosfor Express
The overnight heir to the Orient Express, crossing the Thracian plain from Istanbul over the Bulgarian border to Sofia as the berths are made up.
Wikipedia ↗
Scenic (2)
- Rhodope Narrow-Gauge
Bulgaria’s last 760 mm line threads 35 tunnels up to Avramovo, the highest railway station in the Balkans at 1,267 m.
Wikipedia ↗ - Sofia–Vidin
Up the Iskar gorge, which is the reason to take it: the river cuts a canyon north out of Sofia through Svoge and Lakatnik to Mezdra, then Vratsa and the plain to the Danube at Vidin.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons; each route page credits the author & licence
What is the fastest train in Bulgaria?
The BDŽ Fast Train Plovdiv, running Sofia to Plovdiv at up to 130 km/h. It is one of 13 routes in Bulgaria in this atlas.
Are there night trains in Bulgaria?
Yes, 1 sleeper service in this atlas serves Bulgaria: Bosfor Express (Istanbul – Sofia).
Can you cross the border by train from Bulgaria?
Yes, 2 of its 13 routes continue into another country: Bosfor Express (Istanbul – Sofia), Bucharest–Sofia (Bucharest – Sofia).
Which is the most scenic railway in Bulgaria?
Bulgaria has 2 scenic or mountain lines in this atlas. The longest is the Sofia–Vidin, 266 km.
Cross-border lines continue into
Train routes in Romania 25 routes
Train routes in Türkiye 14 routes