CAF commissions the first phase of modernised Sofia central station

On 6 June 2024, the CAF Group's railway signalling business has commissioned the first phase of modernised Sofia central station, meaning that trains in the Bulgarian capital are now running on the first five tracks. This is the most important station in the country and one of the most important in the Balkans, due to its size and high volume of traffic. CAF received the building permit for Sofia station on 25 July 2023, the estimate for the completion of station is mid-2026. The contract worth is 45,499,420 BGN, and includes the CAF Signalling scope, and the scope of its partner AER.

This commissioning is the first milestone of the project "Design and construction of signalling and telecommunications systems and ERTMS for the Sofia railway junction development project of the 'Sofia - Voluyak' section". The installation has already been fully equipped in its indoor part to allow easy growth of the system, as the corresponding outdoor works are completed in the successive phases of the project.

In this project, the technological solution installed by CAF is based on its EIS Quasar Q4 interlocking. The passenger and freight rail service has remained active throughout the execution of the work, meaning that the signalling work has had to be coordinated and simultaneous with the complete renewal of the tracks and the catenary. The station has about 20 main tracks and the two storage areas (one of them in the locomotive depot). During the modernising about 10 to 12 tracks were available, as some of them were cut due to civil works.

CAF will continue to work on the final completion of the project, in which in addition to renovating Sofia station, the signalling of the entire Sofia - Voluyak (north-west to capital) section will also be renewed (around 10 km), including the Obelya and Voluyak stations. Finally, the entire line will be equipped with ERTMS N1. The work is being carried out in collaboration with local partner Atomenergoremont AD (AER), which is providing the telecommunications, civil works and energy.