Serbian Minister of Capital Investment, Velimir Ilic and Bulgarian Minister of Transport Petar Mutafcijev signed today in Dimitrovgrad the Protocol on joint work of police, custom service, inspection and railways, and officially put into service the first freight train, operating from the new joint border railway station to Bulgaria.

In the presence of numerous guests and journalists, the Ministers expressed their readiness to continue the common activities regarding the improvement of quality and efficiency of railway and road service between Serbia and Bulgaria.

– We invested more than five million Euros in the construction of this new joint border railway station in Dimitrovgrad. We received great support and assistance from the European Investment Bank, stated Velimir Ilic, the Minister of Capital Investment, and specified that this event verified the application of European standards on Serbian railways.

Director General of “Serbian Railways”, Milanko Sarancic, together with the representatives of Bulgarian Railways signed the Protocol regulating the organization of railway traffic between these two states, as well as the operation of railway stuff in the joint railway station in Dimitrovgrad.

– These Protocols determine that both police and custom service of our country and Bulgaria jointly manage the customs examination in international passenger trains, not only during the train halt, as currently, but during the operation between Dimitrovgrad and Dragoman as well. Consequently, the layover time of international passenger trains at the border will be reduced from 100 to 50 minutes, said the Director General of “Serbian Railways”, Milanko Sarancic and continued:

– Customs examinations and inspections of freight trains will be jointly performed in Dimitrovgrad Station, instead of Dragoman. Thus, the layover of freight trains on borders will be reduced from the current 300 minutes to an average of 140 minutes per train, specified Sarancic.

Signing of the Protocol between Serbia and Bulgaria, along with its prompt application will speed up railway service between these two countries and contribute to the faster goods and passengers flow on the international Corridor 10, which is the way our country wants to contribute maximally and verify its determination to join European Union.