Countries from southeastern Europe are set to develop a new railroad infrastructure that will allow for high speed trains to cross the region in accordance with EU standards. The agreement was signed in 2006 in Athens by transport ministers of all nations involved in the international project - Albania, Macedonia, Greece, Croatia, Turkey, Moldova, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia - with Bulgaria eventually confirming the treaty in April 2009.

Subsequently, respective national governments have gradually ratified parts of the treaty to meet their own local requirements.

The document has laid the foundations of co-operation between the countries in southeastern Europe in the sphere of railroad infrastructure and transport and the installation of a modern state of the art railway system, both for passenger and freight transport, which will encompass a total of 16 sections, five of which are to be in Bulgaria: The railroad sections to be developed will span between Sofia, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Varna, Bourgas, Gorna Oriahovitsa, Vidin and Rousse.

The aim of the new infrastructure is to comply with standards established by the trans-European railway network and the pan-European corridors, Stroitelstvo Gradut has reported.

The document envisages improvement of the quality of service, reduction of the duration of travel, and less time spent at border crossing points. Furthermore, the agreement implies that existing networks in southeastern Europe, which are technically advanced enough, will be linked with trans-European corridors, where they are expected to be able to accommodate train speeds of up to 160km/h and by 2020, 220km/h.

Turkey, meanwhile, is contemplating the construction of a high speed railroad network to serve the line between Istanbul and the Bulgarian border, a project earmarked to begin construction in 2010.

The formulation of a managing committee was established, tasked help co-ordinate, assist and regulate construction work. Bulgaria has been head of the managing committee since December 2008.