Traveling on Bulgarian trains in graffiti style. Trains and railways in Bulgaria Tickets and discounts on trains

As a railway enthusiast, I have made many trips and photo excursions, but beyond former USSR never visited the railways of this or that country. When I flew to Bulgaria, taking off from Domodedovo airport, our plane flew over the railway and I observed it from above. But, ironically, when landing at Burgas airport, our plane also flew over the railway, along which an unknown passenger train was traveling at that moment. Looking down, I thought, shouldn’t I take a fact-finding trip and photograph the local rolling stock? Why not!

But, naturally, in the first days of rest there was no question of this: sea, sun... But I didn’t think of giving up the idea, I got a schedule for the Burgas station, chose the day of the trip. In the interval 13.45 - 14.30 several trains from Burgas were expected, which I decided to photograph. The trip was scheduled for August 10.
The road from Pomorie to Burgas took about 30 minutes, and here I am already standing in front of the station building. Renovation work was underway at the Burgas station: passenger platforms were repaired, tracks were changed. But I was interested in the schedule; I had to double-check the information. All the trains were displayed on the departure monitor; everything was the same in time, except, perhaps, the numbers and some routes. But I didn’t notice that the 3 trains that I planned to photograph in the “path” column did not have a number, but the inscription “auto”; only the commuter train No. 8028 Burgas - Yambol had track No. 7. But I didn’t attach any importance to this, but in vain!
I decided to take a photo outing opposite the Burgas-Razpredelitelna station, so I took the bus to the Dolno Ezerovo quarter. I drove about 20 minutes by bus and saw parallel railway tracks and a marshalling yard. I get off at the nearest stop and move towards the tracks. But as soon as I reached the railway track, I heard a whistle from the direction of Burgas. I wonder what this is? And then an electric train appeared around the bend.


Electric train 32-104.2. Although the light is backlit, the first train has been filmed. It was all the more pleasing that the first trophy was an electric train built for BJD by the Riga Carriage Works, known as ER25.


The electric train sped off, and I began to inspect the freight station. While our marshalling stations are constantly in full swing with work, the shunting diesel locomotive ChME3 or TEM2 constantly rearranges cars from one track to another, then silence reigned here. No locomotive whistle, no knocking... Silence.


But looking closer, I noticed that most of the cars had rusty wheels, which indicated that they had been standing here for quite a long time. And the roll on the tracks was quite weak on most tracks.


I decided to take a walk along the tracks. Now it’s good to photograph trains to Burgas, but the surroundings of the tracks are so overgrown that there is nowhere to stand. Walking along the tracks, I look at the freight station, trying to notice at least some signs of life. So I reached the station building of the Burgas-Raspredelitelnaya station.


Burgas-Raspredelitelna station (Gara Burgas-Razpredelitelna). Nearby there is a landing platform of the same-named stopping point (Bulgarian: spirka). The tracks of the cargo park adjoin the main ones after a couple of kilometers, it is in that place that there is an entrance traffic light and a sign “Border on Garata” (Station Boundary).


Continuing my walk, I approach traffic lights. The traffic light is yellow, the station is closed to traffic. Although, judging by the schedule, there should be a train. The train, of course, appeared, but from the opposite direction. An electric locomotive of the 44 series produced by Skoda rushed to Burgas with a pair of passenger cars. If you look closely, you can see current separation signs in the distance. The electric locomotive proceeded through this section with the pantograph lowered. Neutral insert, gentlemen.
Since the next train from Burgas was expected only in 40 minutes, I decided to walk to the place where the border of the station passes.


Entrance traffic lights and station boundary sign.
Initially, I wanted to go further, but changed my mind. The area is unfamiliar to me, moreover Railway turned left, where the lighting for shooting trains from Burgas was poor. Let's go back.


View in the direction of Burgas, towards the Vladimir Pavlov station.


I'm going back. Having reached the traffic light, I look at the reading - nothing has changed, it is still yellow.

In general, the traffic light was a little confusing, why it only had two digits. Is there really a semi-automatic blocking here? To be honest, it was hard to believe. Like European country, like a two-track, and the line is clearly not inactive. But then the yellow traffic light changed to green. I took a position, and a minute later the face of a Skoda electric locomotive appeared in the distance.


So, an electric locomotive with a pair of cars serves as a commuter. The same one I saw a little over an hour ago. By the way, the electric train that I took first had already returned to Burgas by this time. But now all attention is paid to commuter train No. 8028.


Electric locomotive 44-094.1 with commuter train No. 8028 Burgas - Yambol, section Vladimir Pavlov - Burgas-Razpredelitelna. As soon as the commuter passed, I quickly walked forward to see the traffic light. The traffic light was green. The commuter train disappeared around the bend following the entrance traffic light, and the green signal changed to yellow. There is no doubt - this is semi-automatic.
The train sped off, the next one was expected soon, but... I didn’t pay attention to the fact that instead of the track number, the board read “auto” (bus obviously). 15 minutes passed, but the warning light was yellow. Meanwhile, a freight train arrived at the freight depot - the station became a little livelier. I was about to look at the arriving train, but then the warning traffic light turned green, and a couple of minutes later an unknown dark locomotive appeared in the distance. As we approached, it became clear that a freight train driven by a Series 87 locomotive was approaching.


Electric locomotive 87-033.7 with a freight train. The owner of the locomotive is the Bulgarian Iron Company. Electric locomotives of the 87 series were purchased by this railway company from the British and were previously operated in England. This locomotive was built in 1974.
A little more time passed, and the warning light turned green again. The yellow face of an electric locomotive with a freight train appeared on the horizon. But as we approached, it became clear that the cargo was headed by a system of two electric locomotives.


Electric locomotives 92-025.1 "Oscar Wilde" and 92-034.3 "Kipling" with a freight train. I wonder whose locomotives these are? On the sides of the electric locomotives is the "EWS" (English, Welsh and Scottish Railway Ltd) logo, the largest British railway company. And on the face is the DB (Deutsche Bahn) logo of a large company, the main railway operator in Germany. And the locomotives themselves travel along the Bulgarian railways. Interesting movie!
At this point I decided to end my acquaintance with the railways of Bulgaria, but only for a while. The fact is that a couple of days later I had to come to Burgas to buy some things that I did not find in Pomorie, I had the camera with me. And then I decided to rent a suburban one again to Yambol, but a little further - on the territory of the Dolno Ezerovo quarter. I took a bus to this quarter of Burgas, reached the tracks and after 10 minutes successfully removed suburban train.


Electric locomotive 44-134.5 with commuter train No. 8028 Burgas - Yambol, section Burgas-Razpredelitelna - Dolno Ezerovo.
After filming the commuter train, I decided to wait a little in the hope of freight trains, but there were no freight trains that day. More precisely, there was one cargo truck, but it passed by when I was returning back to the city.
In principle, this was enough for me, but... I liked the Bulgarian Skoda electric locomotives; after all, they have a slight external resemblance to our ChS2. God, as you know, loves a trinity, and therefore I decided to come to this stage again in order to film another Czech. The trip took place on August 15.


I left for the stage 20 minutes before the commuter train passed. The warning traffic light was the usual yellow; nothing was expected in front of the suburban one. On the last train I saw a notch in the curve ahead, so I decided to go forward.


But when I reached the curve, I realized that the plan to remove the commuter from the excavation could be discarded - the excavation was all covered in bushes, there was nowhere to stand. It's a pity, of course, but what can you do? I go back without a sip. About 10 minutes passed and then the sound of a local train approaching was heard. I knew that there would be an electric locomotive 44-096.6 because I saw it at the Burgas station


Suburban appeared in a curve. I was pointing the camera, but here the technology failed by focusing inaccurately, correcting the inaccuracy only when the electric locomotive almost left the frame.


Electric locomotive 44-096.1 with the Burgas - Yambol commuter train. I wasn’t very pleased with the shot, but on the other hand, I haven’t taken close-ups of the Bulgarian Czechs yet. The train proceeded under the yellow flashing warning light and disappeared around the bend.
Now all that was left was to wait and hope for luck. But an hour passed and there was no movement. Only flocks of pelicans were constantly circling in the sky.


A flock of pelicans flying to Lake Burgas.
After walking a little more along the tracks I decided to leave. I left the railway, but when I got to the bus stop I found out that the bus had just left, and here they only run every 45 minutes. Well, since this happened, I decided to go to the Dolno Ezerovo station and see what kind of station it was. Since the station was located in the block itself, I didn’t have to walk for long, and turning down one street I saw a crossing 150 meters away.


Station (Gara) Dolno Ezerovo. Having glanced at the station, I understood why the train arrived at the station under two yellow signals of the entrance traffic light - the 1st and 2nd main tracks were closed for repairs, the trains were moving through the side tracks. The 2nd track was completely dismantled, a new one has already been laid in place of the 1st dismantled track, but it is still far from being put into operation. A similar picture is observed at the Vladimir Pavlov station.


Railway crossing at Dolno Ezerovo station. As soon as I took a photo of the crossing, the alarm went off and the barrier closed. The train is only expected from this direction; in addition, a single-track line departs from the Dolno Ezerovo station to the metallurgical plant. But when I got to the crossing, I noticed a green signal at one of the repeating traffic lights - a train was expected from Burgas.


And in front of the station there is a curve, here only a commuter with two cars can be easily removed. And from around the curve appeared a familiar pair of electric locomotives bearing the names of Oscar Wilde and Rudyard Kipling.


Series 92 electric locomotives with a freight train. In general, freight trains in Bulgaria are not that long, but some, nevertheless, are equipped with systems of 2 electric locomotives.


Bulgarian freight cars. The freight train pulled onto a side track and was soon out of sight. And a few minutes later the crossing rang again. Only this time the train was already on the opposite side, and it was the already familiar locomotive 44-096.1 which was returning with a commuter from Yambol. But then I remembered that any minute there will be a commuter train No. 8014 Burgas - Sliven, and judging by previous observations, an electric train of the ER25 series, also known as 32-104.2, will travel as a commuter train. Great! A few minutes later, when the commuter from Yambol rushed off to Burgas, the crossing rang again, and a beautiful Riga woman appeared around the bend.


Electric train 32-104.2 from Burgas to Sliven. Great! If you have a question, how did I know that there would be this particular electric train, I answer that it is currently operating here alone. There is indeed another electric train in Burgas, but it stands at a dead end without movement. Great result, now can we take the bus? Perhaps! I'm going to bus stop, having reached which I find out that the next flight will be soon, but.... Something made me miss this flight and return back to the railway track. The crossing rang when I was about 50 meters away from it. I’m running ahead, although it’s not a fact that the train will be from Burgas. And as it turned out, the train was on the opposite side, but... The electric locomotive was traveling to Burgas as a reserve, which made it possible to remove it for those leaving for the stage.


Another addition to the collection is the 86 series electric locomotive, which, judging by the logo on its face, also belongs to the Germans.
After the passage of this electric locomotive, there was a slight lull, which I took advantage of by walking around the station.


Dolno Ezerovo station. In front of us is the railway station building, as well as the landing platform. Repair work is underway at the station to replace the railway track.


View towards Burgas-Razpredelitelna station.
The station was filmed, but what happens next? And then I remembered that today is Saturday, which means there should be a train from Burgas to Budapest. I look at my watch - in a couple of minutes the train will leave Burgas, which means I have some time. Only at the station I didn’t want to take pictures with the construction in the background, but I just didn’t have time to get to the Dolno Ezerovo - Druzhba section, and even this was outside the block - unfamiliar places.
We had to film near the crossing, just like the previous trains.


Electric locomotive 45-176.5 with passenger train No. 1470 Burgas - Budapest-Keleti. So we caught a Czech of the 45th series.
The passenger train sped away, but a few minutes later the crossing rang again, and a whistle was heard from the direction of Burgas.


The already familiar electric locomotive 44-096.6 with empty passenger cars passed by. In general, behind the passenger train there should be a suburban train Burgas - Karnobat, but it turned out that this train does not run on Saturdays.
At this point I decided to end the photo outing. Returning to the bus stop, I waited for the bus and went back to the center of Burgas. Next, transfer to a bus to Pomorie and after 20.00 I was already at home.
The sun had already hidden behind the horizon when I went out to the beach. And even though it was already getting dark, I plunged into the warm waters of the Black Sea and got great pleasure from swimming at sunset. The day was a success!
Concerning general impression about the rolling stock of the BDZ, I personally was very pleased with the local electric locomotives of the Skoda company and the electric train of the ER25 series. Everything else is of course not bad, but ours is still prettier. That's all! Thank you for your attention!

IN Bulgarian State Railways(Bulgarian: Bulgarian State Railways , Balgarski darzhavni zheleznitsi, abbreviated as BJ, BJD and or BJD listen)) are Bulgaria's state-owned railway company and the largest railway carrier in the country, established as a legal entity in 1885. The company's headquarters are located in the capital Sofia. Since the 1990s, the Belarusian Railways has faced serious competition from road transport. Over the period from 1994 to 2010, there has been a significant decline in market share in passenger and freight transport, and the lack of competent management is making the situation worse. Until 2002, the company owned/managed the country's railway infrastructure, when, in accordance with EU regulations, a new state-owned company, the infrastructure company National Railway, was founded and became the owner of the infrastructure.

On January 1, 2002, the new law on railway transport enterrd into force adopted by the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria, according to which the National Company Bulgarian State Railways Werr is divided into two separate enterprises - the railway carrier (Bulgarian State Railways EAD) and the infrastructure enterprise (Railway Infrastructure National Company)

The European Commission formally warned Bulgaria in May 2010 for non-compliance with the first railway regulation on charges of access to rail tracks. In October 2010, a further restructuring of WSS was announced, with BZD EAD becoming a holding company, and all rolling stock allocated to passenger and freight subsidiaries.

The structure of the company

Since the last reforms in 2007, a new organizational structure has been approved.

BZD Inc. (holding company with one shareholder, Republic of Bulgaria)

• BZD Putnicheski PREVOZI Ltd. - responsibility for Passenger Transportation. The company carried 31.36 million passengers in 2009.
• BZD Tovární PREVOZI Ltd. - Cargo operations and expeditions with additional BDZ accelerated Ltd. The company carried 13.3 million tons of cargo in 2009 in 3.1 million ton-kilometers. Privatization was undertaken in 2012, but was withdrawn in 2013 due to financial problems.
• BZD Traktzionen Podvizhen Sustav Ltd. - control and maintenance locomotive.
• BDZ-Konchar Inc. - a joint venture between BZDAMI EAD and KONČAR group from Croatia with the main scope of work being locomotive repairs and modernization.

However, there are many problems with the organizational structure of the holding. In order to optimize operating costs, many employees from the administration must be fired. There is an obvious lack of efficiency in management and the main objective Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Telecommunications to make the enterprise profitable.

traction current

Narrow gauge railways

The picturesque Septemvri-Dobrinishte narrow gauge line was completed in 1945 and passes through the Avramova station, which is the highest railway station in the Balkans at 1267.4 meters. Then it goes through summer and winter tourist centre Bansko. The line is 760mm gauge, non-electrified, and primarily serves diesel powered locomotives, however there are well-preserved steam locomotives that provide the attraction of the tour. Although very attractive to tourists, it is also widely used local residents for public transport purposes.

Bulgarian railways are called " Bulgarian State Railways“ and it turns out BJJ. A railway stations, respectively, ZhP (and iron Pътн A) gara(railway station).
The first railway in Bulgaria was built by the British, the Berkeley brothers in 1866. It connected the cities of Ruse and Varna.
In 1952, a railway connection between Burgas and Sofia opened. In 1909, all railway lines became state property.
In 2005, new carriages appeared in Bulgaria - Siemens, but you can still find old German carriages on suburban routes.
I would say that Bulgaria has very well developed railway connections for such a small country - almost all major settlements connected to each other. It's comfortable. It is a pity that with the optimization of costs, the Bulgarian railways have reduced some international routes.
Train in Bulgarian vlak. This word comes from the verb " dragging, dragging"and was previously used for river transport.

Train from Sofia to Burgas

Now I want to talk about how to travel by train from Sofia to Burgas. Travel time is night. At 22.45 you land in Sofia and at 6.15 in Burgas.

Tickets for Bulgarian trains look like the photo below. This is a ticket to second class in a triple compartment. It costs 30.40 levs (15.58 euros) per person from Sofia to Burgas.

There are three sections: the first ticket gives you the right to travel from Sofia to Burgas, the second ticket gives you the right to use a sleeping car, where your compartment and sleeping place will be specified, the third ticket with red font is a receipt that remains with you after the conductor will take the middle ticket. At the entrance to the carriage, the conductor will take all three tickets from you, and then, upon arrival at your destination, he will return the first and third.

The carriages are divided into sleeping and seating carriages. In turn, sleeping rooms are divided into “business class”, “first class” and “second class”; seated - for "first" and "second" classes. Business Class sleeping car means that the passenger will be in a single compartment, first class - the compartment has two berths, second class - three berths. There are two types of seated carriages - “first” and “second” classes. First class is designed as a seated compartment. The second is like an electric train. The last type is also loved by large, cheerful groups who are not going to sleep.

Shared toilet in the sleeping car

When you buy a ticket at the box office ZhP Gara, you pay for the travel and type of accommodation on the train. If you buy a ticket from Sofia to Burgas, you pay the fare, plus the type and class of the carriage. Here we get 20.40 levs (from Sofia to Burgas) plus the cost of sleeping accommodation - 10 levs.

These hygiene kits are not given to everyone and not always. Sometimes they are on the shelf in the compartment, and sometimes they are not.

However, there is no particular use for them, except for paper tissues, if you forgot a towel at home - no other towels in Bulgarian trains can not be.

As for other prices, a business class sleeping car costs 18 levs (9.23 euros), first class - 12 levs (6.15 euros), second class - 10 levs (5.12 euros).

Seats in a compartment are sold for 5 levs (2.56 euros) and standard seats for 50 stotinki (0.25 euros).

Pre-sale of train tickets in Bulgaria begins five days before the travel date. For holidays and the summer season, a twenty-day pre-sale is introduced.

You can buy a round-trip ticket, but you cannot pay in advance for a bed/seat in the opposite direction. To do this, you need to go to the ticket office at the place of departure and pay extra for the type of seat there. For night routes you can buy both seats and sleeping places, for day routes - only seats. The price of a seat does not depend on the distance.

Tambour in a sleeping car

Power socket in a triple second class compartment. Here you can charge any gadget.

The second class sleeping car consists of ten compartments. This glass door separates the regular compartments from the disabled ones. Disabled compartments are spacious and have a washbasin.

Bed linen is included in the price sleeping place and you don’t have to pay extra for it. The set consists of a pillow, a pillowcase on it, two sheets, one of which replaces the duvet cover, and a “camel” blanket. There are no towels. The linen is good, clean, dry and does not smell.

Second class compartment of a sleeping car on a Bulgarian train

Interesting point about the stairs. In the photo it is in its original position. People complain that it is supposedly installed incorrectly and when using it, they want to pull the stop valve. In fact, to climb onto the third shelf, it is better to remove it (the ladder) from the mount and move it to the shelf.

You may get a seat in a compartment for disabled people simply because it was available at the time you purchased your train tickets, and not because you are disabled.

Washbasin in compartment

There are shelves behind the mirror.

This is the control panel for the coupe :)

Exhibited here temperature conditions, the volume of something there and the lighting. This compartment has a TV. True, it only showed the inscription “Sofia-Burgas”. The conductor said that it was just an information board and that it was not working properly at the moment.

There is a drawer for shoes under the hanger.

At the head of each bed there is a lamp, a button to call the conductor and some other functions.

The sleeping cars on the Sofia-Burgas-Sofia route are new - German, and have air conditioning.

The common toilet in the carriage is not locked. About forty minutes before arrival, the conductor wakes everyone up and hands out tickets that he picked up at the boarding. Neither tea nor coffee are offered; there is no restaurant or even a buffet on the train. Smoking is not allowed - there are smoke detectors throughout the carriage. When boarding a night flight, an unofficial quiet hour is announced. Surveillance cameras are installed in the corridor and if “unauthorized” movement begins, the conductor comes out to check.

Important!
Sleeping compartments in Bulgaria are divided into women's and men's. A family of three can easily buy a triple second-class sleeping compartment. In this case, a first class sleeping compartment is suitable for the couple, otherwise they will have to sleep in different compartments.

Platform of the residential complex in Burgas

"Don't want! I won't! It’s obsolete!” - with such screams, I threw my blue dress straight at my friend laughing at me. We had so much fun packing our bags for our Bulgarian vacation. This was followed by a fashion show in swimsuits and pillow fights. Why start a story about the railroad with a mention of my wardrobe? Yes, because Bulgarian trains are as obsolete as my silk dress. I got out of the situation by accessorizing the outfit with a beautiful necklace and heeled sandals. True, I moved on them like a paralyzed grasshopper. But this is a completely different story... Bulgarian railway workers also followed a similar path. Instead of sending the old trains to hell and completely replacing the rolling stock with new models, they simply refurbished the seats on the trains and added new sleeping cars. But let's move on from dresses and lyrics to practice. Today I will tell you everything about the railways of Bulgaria.

Railways of Bulgaria, what are they like?

The state company “Bulgarski Dzharzhavni Zheleznitsy” (BJ) provides its services for transporting passengers throughout most of the territory of Bulgaria. Why mostly? Yes, because many towns and villages do not have stations. And sometimes, to get to the desired point, you have to make several transfers.

Trains, as you already understood, come from the USSR. They are repaired from time to time, but they clearly do not live up to the title of “European”. However, the plus is the price of tickets. You can travel around Bulgaria on a fairly budget.

Bulgaria has international connections with Turkey, Greece, Serbia and Romania. You can look at the schedule here.

First of all, I want to talk a little about the categories of trains, so that you have an idea of ​​what and under what conditions you will have to travel to this or that town.

Categories of Bulgarian trains

The local population does not bother with the detailed division of trains into categories, so any Bulgarian will say that there are only three types of trains:

• regular locals;
• fast local;
• express trains, following popular tourist routes.

I believe this information will not be enough for you. Well, I’ll be a good girl and try to tell you about all the categories of Bulgarian trains.

Types of cars

There are not countless different types of carriages in Bulgaria, as in Italy, for example (if you want to read about the railways of this country, then click). Everything here is extremely simple - seated cars and sleeping cars. So I’ll tell you about them.

Seated carriages

Most trains in Bulgaria are daytime, which means that the vast majority of the carriages are seated. This is what they look like.

This daytime trains with separate compartments.

As you can see, there is a small corridor, the passenger seats from which are separated by glass doors. The compartment has two rows of soft seats.

In the second class, one compartment has eight seats (two four-seater sofas opposite each other), and in the first class there are six (two sofas, each consisting of three chairs), there is space for luggage, hooks for clothes and where to stretch your legs. :)

Purely theoretically, if no one else is traveling in your compartment, you can take a horizontal position and fall asleep, because the handles between adjacent seats rise.

There is also day trains with shared carriages and without division into compartments.

The seats in them are arranged according to the “2 + 2” pattern. Such compositions look like this.

Sleeping cars

They can only be found on night flights. Fortunately, the old-style carriages with six shelves and shabby walls are becoming a thing of the past. Because there is nothing good in them. There are three shelves on each side and you can’t sit down or stand up normally. There are, of course, also cars with SV-class compartments, where there are only two shelves, but this is also a dubious pleasure.

And such a gloomy corridor awaits you on old trains. And if two people are walking towards each other, then trying to pass each other can become a very intimate act. :)

Old-school trains are gradually being replaced by new, comfortable trains.

I’ll tell you about them, because if you travel by night train, then most likely it will be on these trains. Sleeping cars are divided into three classes:

• in business class, the compartment is designed for one person;
• in first class - for two passengers;
• and in the second, respectively, for three travelers.

At the entrance to the carriage we are greeted by a video camera. The corridor itself is very narrow and uncomfortable. The compartment is small and clean.

There are a lot of different sensors and buttons for regulating lighting, sound, and launching nuclear weapons.

Hooks to hang your clothes. And a ladder for those lucky enough to travel on the second and third bunks.

There is a washbasin, towel and sockets.

The toilet is also of a European format. Well, more or less European...

There is even a shower.

Among the minuses, it is necessary to mention that the sockets may be broken, there will be no water in the taps, and of the two toilets located in the carriage, only one will work - sadness. :(

It is worth remembering that such coupes are divided into men's and women's. If you plan to travel with your significant other in a second class compartment, be prepared to be seated in different compartments.

Actually, my knowledge regarding Bulgarian trains is over. Now I’ll tell you about tickets, travel discounts and options for purchasing travel passes.

Train tickets and discounts

There is very little information regarding tickets online. And spending a vacation in Bulgaria does not guarantee that you will become an expert in railway matters. It is best to refer to the official website of the railway. According to it, there are two categories of tickets: computer and blank.

Computer tickets

These e-tickets purchased through the BZD website (a little later I’ll tell you how this can be done). In addition to the classic information about the date of travel, direction, train number, ticket price, there may be a lot of other symbols on the travel card. Eg:

• 1/2R-D- ticket for children from 7 to 10 years old.
• MG- ticket for a small group traveling in one direction.
• 1/2l-B- ticket for seniors.

Honestly, there is no point in writing and deciphering all these symbols, since you won’t need them on your trip. But, if you want to be knowledgeable in everything, then keep it, by clicking on which you can find out all the necessary information.

Blank tickets

You can buy such tickets at the box office. They indicate:

• carrier name;
• train category and number;
• car number and class;
• pick-up and drop-off station on the passenger route;
• ticket validity period;
• number of ticket;
• travel date.

It is important to remember that the ticket is only valid for the train number for which it is issued. You cannot board another train in the same direction.

You can only buy e-tickets for routes listed on the website. The point of departure and arrival must be selected in the tabs, which I have indicated with arrows.

Tickets can be purchased at the station ticket office for any direction.

When purchasing tickets online, you will only need documents to accurately enter all passenger information. And this is very important. At the station, the inspector will check whether the information on the tickets matches the information on the ID card.

Note: if you buy express tickets and international routes at the ticket office, you must have your passport with you.

Travel discounts

The Bulgarian Railway provides several types of different travel passes and cards, thanks to which you can save on travel. You can see their names in the screenshot.

So, here's who has the opportunity to travel cheaper:

• a passenger who bought a ticket in both directions;
• holders of youth and classic passes;
• regular customers of BZD. You will fall into this category if you often use the services of the BZD, several times a week, for example, over a fairly long period of time. In this case, you can count on discounts. But I’m talking more about useful things specifically for tourists who came to the country for a short time, so you can forget about this group of beneficiaries with peace of mind.
• groups from three to six people;
• student citizens of any country, under 26 years of age, who are traveling in an organized group;
• Children under 7 years of age (accompanied by an adult) travel free of charge.

You can find out more detailed and, most importantly, up-to-date information about the age of passengers and the amount of discounts on the Belarusian Railways website.

Inter Rail pass

This pass gives you free train travel for a certain period. The cost of Inter Rail in Bulgaria is from 50 EUR.

You can take a closer look at all the current prices and time periods during which the ticket is valid here. And you can buy such a pass simply by following this link.

Buying tickets

There are three ways to purchase tickets:

• at the register;
• at the conductor;
• on the BZD website.

I will tell you in more detail about each of the methods.

Purchase at the cash register

Tickets can be easily bought at the station ticket office: Russian is understood here. Tell the cashier the direction, date and time of departure, type and class of carriage.

By the way, ticket offices are usually open until 19:00, especially in small towns. Some stations do not have ticket offices.

For night trains, ticket sales end an hour before the train departs. In addition, when I was there, passengers on night flights had to go to the ticket office before departure, and there the cashier manually wrote down the names and surnames of travelers on a piece of paper and sorted out who was traveling in which carriage and compartment.

Purchasing a ticket on the train

You can also buy tickets from the conductor. In some cases, tickets may even cost you less than at the box office. Just don't expect to ride like a hare. Conductors pass along the train more than once.

Buy tickets online

Meet the legend! The first photo instruction on the Internet for purchasing tickets on the Bulgarian Railways website. Well, I want to believe that she is the first. And then at one time I scrolled to the fifth page in Google search and found nothing. This is some kind of exclusive material. Straight from the front line. :)

First of all, you need to register on the site. To do this, fill out the following form, indicating:

• email;
• last name;
• phone number.

And we immediately pay attention to the text that appears on the railway company’s website on the right. These are online tips to help you when purchasing a ticket. By the way, few European railway websites can boast of such a feature.

When you log into your email, you will see this message with your password. Your email will serve as your login.

Now we return to the site and go through the authorization procedure.

Now we had two possible flights: morning and evening. I prefer to travel at night, so I choose the train that leaves at 22:40. When you select a certain option, that block will turn blue.

Now we indicate the type of place. I choose a sleeping room in a second class carriage.

I have highlighted with a rectangle the form where you can select a discount option (if it was arranged in advance). At this stage, the final cost of the ticket is determined.

Now comes the fun part: choosing a location. I liked the 31st. I click on it and reserve it for myself this way.

Achtung! This is where you need to be extremely careful and double-check all the data. If everything is ok, then select the payment method.

Now we complete the payment procedure.

All that remains to be done is to sigh joyfully or sadly over the money written off from the card, print out the ticket and stomp with it to the station.

We’ve sorted out the purchase, now I’ll tell you about several interesting points regarding rail transportation in Bulgaria.

Features of railways

There is nothing special that would distinguish Bulgarian railways from our domestic ones, but still there is something you need to know about:

Summary

In order to become a guru in the field of the Bulgarian railway, I need to go there on vacation a couple more times and replenish my knowledge base. But I hope that what I have told will help you in planning your vacation in sunny country.

Have a nice trip, comfortable compartments and pleasant holiday experiences!