THE BULGARIAN RAILROAD SYSTEM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R004500740012-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 3, 2003
• Sequence Number: 12
• Publication Date: March 3, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

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REPORT NO,
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EVALUATION_I 1..._-_....PLACE OBTAINED_ .
DATE OF CONTEN5X11945 tc_Aperaber 1949
DATE OBTAINED
REFERENCES
PAGES
REMARKS
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ENCLOSURES (No. 8,71TE) 3 1
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1. General
The Bulgarian railroads do not compare with the highly developed
railroad systems of the -lestern and Central European states.
The sparseness of the population, the economic backwardness of
the country, and the mountainous tezrain of Bulgaria are the mdh
factors delaying the creation of a 1.niform, dense, and efficient
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railroad system rhich rould meet modern requirements.
!Tumorous barren and rugged mountain relines difficult of access
force the railroeds and hinhways to follow the rivers and the
various rows of basins.
The structure of this sperse network of exclusively single-track
linee is therefore shaped by the, tl.o east- 'ost mountain barriers
of the Balkun _nd ihodope mountains, uhich retch elevetione of
more than 20e(C iietere. The folloine three e-, transverse
lines oT tee countre run parallel to these nountain ran ;es:
a. The line to the important ;Jack Jea port of Varna, runnine
alon the noethern sloes of the Balkan ets end the nenuee valley,
toeother eith its feeder lines fro-. nofia end Vidin.
The spurs brenchinn of Jrom this northern transVerse route to
the eenube ports serve shipein: on Vie river end trffic with
neva:ale. There re no r: ilroad bridees (see pare 3e (4)).
b. The iaportent transit line ..rom ',astern ,urone via aonia to
Isi,anb,1 (the oo-called naleen end ainplon encpross) follovyjnr
une velley of the ,aritsa zivee, ?no spurs brench off southwerd
Tron this line. The western one, orininatinr in of is end running
elan?: the ve)ley of the atruna iiver, is still nerrow-nau;e in
the last sectioa before the ;reek border, The eastern one,
stendard-eea an ends on Buie:Irian territory not far frcel the Creek
border.
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0. The third east-lest line, which is to establish a direct con-
nection between the capital of the country and Burnes, the second
important Black ..ioa port, is still under construction. The line
wes almost completed in late 1949. The gap between Klissura and
Dolno nalaarce, a stretch of -bout 50 kilometers, will nrobebly be
closed during 1950. This will require extensive tunneling work in
a difficult mountein region.
Three lines cro. c the Balkan nts in a N-S direction, thus establish-
in; connoctions between the trunk lines. A fourth such line
Is under construction; it was put into o)eretion as ffr as ?frojan
in jenu'ry 1949. Its continuation to IL-Flay? will reeuire so_Le
tine because of r nueber of long tunnels ehich till heve to be
built. The efficiency of these 11-n connectionsnd thus their
value in the economy or the country ie adversely affeceed by steep
grades, narrow curves, encl muzerous eannade structures,
etenerally, standard european train e composed of 11C axles and with
a lanoth of eee _eters c'n oper nee only on the importent transit
liees; the otr lines eill take only shonter trains. The back-
rd stetue on LLe railroad et tione .lakes londien oecretions dif-
ficult Le hinders a smooth T3oe of traffic. :eny nilit%ry posts
are still 'Aleut mil connections.
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To these factors, characterizinz the deficiencies in the Dui-
eeriun railroad syste:1, ,Aust be added a severe central Euro-
pean climate thich loode to the formation of ice and snow
drifts in the mountainous parts of the country, and to floods
dulling the melting or the snow or after heavy rains in the
plains crossed by uncontrolled rivers. The mountainous charac-
ter of the country makes rail operations more difficult and
expensive. The maintenance of the railroad installations as
well as the execution of repair and improvement work (steep
Erodes, narroY curves, numerous tunnels and bridges is also
complicated4 in spite of those difficulties there has always
been a definite desire for improvement of the Bulgarian rail-
road net - an attitude which is reflected in numerous sizable
results nd in plans for future constructions.
or detsils see para 4).
2. argunization and Pereonnel
rhe rulgerian railroads are utate-tuned. The fee ariv,to rail-S
roi Line, elich had existed in the country up to the end of
:orld r 21, wet% netienelized in recent yte re in accord;nce
titl, the procedure pursued in poople*s democracies. 21,c
rectorate eeeerel for zailroads nd eort8,0 a aole-rt Lent of the
-inistr. 02 Traffic, is the e enc y in cher :o of railroad opera-
tions, ,:eintonance ens., im.)roveeent tork, and edministretion.
It executes its fuictions throuh the three 0Asilroad Inspec-
torates'? in jofia, ilovdiv, and Gorna Crekhovitsa.
The entire railroad 8L-sten is aodclled after the Ger .an pattern
sne ie characterized by efficient eueurvieion, aood discipline
and a fine sense of duty on the aide of the railroad pereonnel,
and by overall efficiency, uhich is higher than the average stan-
dard )revailiwn in the, Balkans. The eovict influence, although
not conspicuous, makes itself felt and is a considerable power.
In late 1948 the railroad pers nnel was composed as follows:
491 officials assigned to the Directorate General;
5,962 engineers and torkers assigned to the improvement
and maintenance of lines;
6,623 engineers and workers employed in railroad facto-
ries and r'orkshops;
319 auxiliary personnel.
%lthounh, as is natural under a communist regime, the leading
railroad pereonnel were selected primerily for party affilin-
tione end p',zty standing, the bulk of the personnel owe their
positions to their technic. 1 training and ability. The techni-
cal training of prospective railroad oJficiels 18 therefoze
Given the most serious attention.
3. ,iallroad Net
a. The nulgarien railroad system had e length of 2,971 las
standerd-gauee -:nd 419 km narrow-gauge in 1939. The reil net-
leork amounted to about 3,6eO stenderd-3auee end 450 kali
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narroauee in eerly 1949. ef this mileatee trio-thirds had a
Lauee of 760 uLt, the remeinder 6LA, Am. The seen increase in
the narrow-eauee traekene le due to the fact that neY lines are
eenerelly conetructed es standard-cauee, apart ilrom the fact
thet previous narrore-eauee lima are in; converted to stendard-
teauee. The euleerian railroad line are einle-tracked for a
10-kiloneter stretch of the ?eofia-Voluyak line section; ehich
Is double trecl:cd. .us Ilentioned in pare 1; the three e-; trans-
verse roueue, of ehich the teird one is still under construction,
and the .Cour 7-J lines (the fourth is not yet completed); form
the backbone of the nuleerien railroad system. ill the other
linen ere of ninor importance -nd, elth receded to their cetpaci-
ties, do not compare 1.-Lh ueotern ,,uropeun ti/ lines. Eke rail
rod net is :el tively dense around ,$ofie, a fact uhich is due
to the rapid erouth of the capital as t;e11 as to the extensive
brown coal deposit in the district of -osino-Iernik and the
production of anthracite ne,r evocje.
b. The superstructure is laid on a pebble layer 3 meters wide
and 30 centimeters thick. This ballast, althouji inferior to
that used in western countries, is better than the sand ballest
used in the other countries of the Balkan feninsula.
Hails are eenerally laid on wooden ties of 2.5 x 0.25 x 0.16 m.
Iron ties have been used on the follorinc line sections:
eofia pernlk,
Jofia Ronan, and
30f Ia
Delovo.
c. Due to the nountainous cheracter of the country the Bulge-
rien railroad lines have Nany tunnels; brideee; fills; cuts, etc.
There are approxinately 80 tunnels and about 1,::;e0 brides,
mostly steel structures. 4teep Grades and narrow curves make the
use of lone trains impossible and censiderably reduce the capa-
city of the lines. trtendard trains operate only on the laree
transit linos, compered eith other countries; the xeer dnme :e
to LulGarien railroud /ince end brid es as seal' aia was repaired
shortly after the unr.
d. In spite of an aspic reservoir of unexploited eater power,
electriVied railroad lines eee not yet aveilaole0 he five-yeer
p131 envisaeos the electrific. tion of only 150 kilonetere, the
firet priority beine elven to the 90-kilometer stretch or the Jefla-
needre line; which serves as e feeder line to the northern '1
transverse route; The overhead netvone of this line has been under
coMmotion since .ry 1949. fhe construction of the required
treeleformer stations and the other installations sley be assuled to
be eompleted in 1950.
e. Border crossine stations:
nest of the few border croesine lines serving transit traffic Into
the noiehboring countries are inefficient. ?
(1) ;julcaria is connected with YUeoelavia by only one 3114;1e-track
lin, which Is of major 14portance as it is the route of the
:31rTion and Balkan exprees which connects western Europe and
Istambul. The 'border station is Tsaribrode Work on two other lines
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Into yuc3oslav-::acedonia, vhich vas occupied by Bulgaria between
1941 ond 1944, Las started but discontinued fter the vor due
to the cinn;ed po1itic.,1 situation ond thu tension betneen
these to states (see p ra 4 n).
(2) There is only a narrou-naune line (600 nrk) into Greece.
on Greek territory this joins a stendard-gaune line run:Jan::
parallel to the ',ocean coast. Bulgaria, thich had occupied
this coastal area (Greek .:acedonia) uring ?orld Mr II, tried
to improve this line ns a throun.,h standard-gau;e route.
The politcal situation after the war led to a suspenc,ion of
this construction project. The strindard-gawie line now ter-
minates at the railroad station of ',General Todorovo on Bul-
goriqn territory, the rest of the line to the Greek frontier
13 still narrow-gnuge (see para 4 k)0
ror the sone reason work vos also suspended on the continua-
tion of the line runninr south from nomeilGrad. This line,
nhich nns to reach the ,e!ean coast, now terminates near rod-
kovas nulnaria (see para 4 1).
(f6) nulnnria is connected lith Turkey by an importont transit
line runniat from Jofia aloan the naritsa valley. Althourh
sinnle-troc- it is of relntivoly nret efficiency. Jvilengrad
is the u1ri a border station.
(4) Ireithtr nor road brides span the Jnnube liver on
the stretch or bout 450 kilcnieters rhich for: the nulgarian-
qunonlan frontier, nithou;h nuLlorous branch lines lead to the
Januix ports on . oth sides of the river. This condition re-
quires the construction of one or more rail briancss norti-
cularly in the interest of the Joviets, to when such brides
would be of paramount Importance in the event of ilitnry ope-
rotions in tne nnlkens. Noceasvey plans were completed many years
ago, but thy have not yet !Interialined beyond solemn promises,
preparatory nensuros, -nd test borinns at possiLle brid:c sites.
js Curinn the period of the oerman occupation, these delaying
tactics are chiefly pursued by the Aunanians, uho fear that the
construction of a bridne over the Drnube would unilaterally favor
the Bulgarian ports of Varna and imrgas to the detriAent of
their ninck Je,: port of Constnrt17--, it is surprising that the
noviets have not exerted more pre-sure to gain their objectives
but for the tine being political considerations seem to take
precedenceovertheir vital interest in better communications in
that region.
po:sible sites for a Danube bride are at:
Vidin Calafat ?
Cigen - (noril-Oorabia), jomovit (rikopol Turnu ,:nnurele)
nviatov - ,imnicea, and use Giurgiu
the latter naried site is the .best suited or them all. At present
rail onurtions between nulGaria and & iauia are uaintained:
(aa) By :leans of a rril ferry between Giurgiu and use. Ferrying
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operations uhich are maintained by the Bulgarian ferry
eofia (see srnex 2), are wearisome aria embarrassing. The
Ilia-has a loading surface of eb x 15 m, is equipped eilAh
three tracks, and is propelled by tele Diesel enzines of 691, BP
each. It attains a speed of 15 kmph. :ith a capacity of
12 frei ;ht cars end one hour recuired for a round trip, inclu-
ding loading and unloading operations, the ferry has a capaci-
ty of 4 or 5 trains per day in round-the-clock-operntions. This
corresponds to the performance actually reached durin : the
period of the German occupation. This crossing rould represent
a great and vulnerable bottleneck in the event of warlike ope-
rations in the Balkans.
(bb) second and direct rail connection beteeen the two coun-
tries exists aloles Woe flack ,iea coast. The nulGarian custons
station on this line is nobric, but the line is operated by
the DulGere ts fer as Kerdam in eunania. The basic weaknoes
of this lino lies in the foot that it is sinceleetrackod end
thet a bride erstem several kilometers long as required to
cross the ouanpy Danube elver beaks between rotesti 3nd ?erne-
voda.
The ferry connection established by the Germans betreen Vidin
In Bulge:la and Calafat in eunania, with a daily capacity of
4 or b trains, is no longer ia operetion, rilt; reason for its
suspension is unknown, .vresunnely, the ferry was destroyed,
during the war and a eeplacenent is not uveilable.
postwar construction Projects:
In spite of the difficult terrain and the financial plight of
the country, every Bulcarian government, regardless of politics,
hes spent surprislncly large suns on the maintenance, improvement,
and exto nsion of the Bulgarian railroad system. This tradition
is continuel by the present People ls Democracy with a view of
brining the railroad system up to the requirements of the in-
tended Greeter industrialization of the country. Pniert from
the losses suffered by the rolling stock the Bulgarian railroad
Installations survived the leer fairly intact, so that the govern-
ment is able to concentretalts efforts on the improvement of
existent and the construction of new railroad installations. In
many construction projects the eoviet Influence is conspicuous.
The way in which these projecte ere executed, p'rticularly the
*voluntarr participatioa of the youth and the entire oopulation,
is fashioned efter the novict pattern. The roeult is a continu-
ous nodernization of the national railroad syeten which, after a
successful execution or the envienGed five-yoer plan, will pro-
bably have ovcrcono its present leeakness, The supelr or the
required constuction mnterials, such as relic -nd brido sections,
seen to be Guaranteed by inports from nzechoelolei:ia and fron the
joviet union.
In detail, tee ?i'ollotine postwar construction projects ore either
conpleted, under constroction, or are at least planned:
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(a) 7mkocevo-Sopot railroad line, (70 km) sinele-track,
:uropc.n-eauee. The line closes the previous eap in the
niddle (third) .-: transverse route, 'hlch on the one hand
is to establish the shortest connection between nofia and
nurgas end Vurna, snd on the other is to ease the strain
on the tnle other n- lines. rhe difficult end prociettous
terrain of the teelkan mountains makes the construction of
this line a difficult endlerprise. Four len tunnels are
reeuired. That at soznica is now under construction and
vill presunably be the lonneet tunnel on the jalLans. erom
the east, the line had prosreseed as far as hlisura, 25 km
west of sopot, by early ,Sebru-ry 1949; from the rest the
line had reached Dolno hancrze, 15 km east of nakocevo, by
I:to nepte.ber 1949. The completion of the entire line vill
reeuire considerable tine; it iill eventually be of sreat
inportance for Joviet transit traffic.
(b) Lovec-Trojan railroad line (36 kn), sinelestrack, Sure-
pean-sauee, a section of the projected connection between
North and south Dulsaria. The line was already under con-
struction betveen 1929 and 1934, but work was then discon-
tinued and was resumed only after tho var. The line will gain
reel importance as a fourth N-S route only after the connec-
tion near hurlovo is. established. The attainment of this ob-
jective is envisaged by the current five-year-plan. Already
In the initial phase of construction, the crossing of the Bal-
kan mountains confronted the railroad engineers with consider-
able difficulties. The Lovec-Trojan section, on which sche-
duled rail operations were started on 10 January 1949, has
10 major bridges, 4 tunnels, the longest of which is 340 m lon6F
and numerous hint' reteining walls. Youth brigades and the ci-
vilien population were enployed to a large extent for the con-
struction of the lino
section as fur as Snrlovo which awaits completion will pro-
bnbly offer still nreater terrain difficultiee and require
even loner tunnels. rts completion J%1:7 therefore be expected
only in a number of years.
(c) vratza-nrjahova railroad line (100 km)
This line, Ihich Is to establish a more efficient connection
to the senuee port of orjahovo, is under construction as a einnle-
track nuropean-sauee lino. Its completion is scheduled for 1950.
The project is to be esecatea in tee stades:
(1) Construction of a line fron Vratsa to Bjala Slatina (50 km) 9
where it joins an exiesiA.n,; narrov-seuee line,
(2) Conversion of the existinc Bjala nletina 760 nm gauee
line to suropeen-snu_e (CS) km).
it nay be expected th-t after completion of this project the
remninine narrow-sauee Wale-eilatina-Cerven Brjag line will
also be conuerted to Suropeon seu;e
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This line 13 of prieerily ecenonic importance.
(d) Qerven nrjan-Jtavertse-noril railroad line (70 km);
a sin le-truck nuropeen-seuie line, uneer conetruction since
the eerinn of /949. It runs elons the Isker valley to the
Danube siv' is scheduled to esteblieh a nee connection
with shippies on the nenube diver. ithing is known on tne
scheduled ditto of completion. This line ney in special
laportance in oonnection with the possible construotion of
a rail brid;o neer Gilson (Boril-Corabia) (see pare 3 e(4))
5omovitsNilovol railroad line (10 km), the extension of an
existins sinale-traok European-gauge line along the Denube
aiver to th important inland harbor of Nikopol. The line
vas complet)d shortly after the var.
(e) Januli-Silistra railroad line (115 km), under construc-
tion as a single-track European-gouse line to the easteikost
Bulgarian Danube port of Sinatra, vhich still is without
reil connec'tion. The samull-Isperih section (40 km) was
completed ie. mid-:ay 1949 The total line, which runs iir:h
Dulovo, is scheduled to be completed in 1050. It opens up
a district leer in railroad lines and is of prdmarily eco-
need? imporeance.
(f) plc:Iron-Love? railroad line (4c kn), a projected
sinele-troce european-gau e line. The construction %ork
hes not yet started. This line eould be of importance In
connection -ith thu project isentioned under (b) nbove as an
extenued u connection.
(C) Leskovets-Jlataritsa railroad line (10 kn), tho exten-
sion of en existins Gin Jo-track nuropean-geu ;0 line. It was
conetructed by "youth briseaeso .nd completed in noptember
1949, It ie of .only Joe. 1 inportance or the Goma Orekho-
vitsa district.
(h) sofia-:rovoseltsi reilroed line (2c km). This project
enviseses tee construction of a second track, required to ease
the traffic burden on the much used transit line in the area
or eofia
so fer the eofia-Volujek section of this line, a stretch of
10 km, has been the only double-track line section in nulgaria.
(i) Pornik-Volujak railroad line (52 km), a single-track
.;Aaropean-gause line which has been in operation since early
1949 servine purely industrial purposes. Xn the summer of 1949,
this section was taken over by the Bulgarian. State hallways.
It establishes a rail connection with the important coal mines
southwest or eofia and at the same time it relieves the strain
on the soTie-Pernik railroad line. Due to mountainous terri-
tory it resnired the construction of 38 bridges end three tun-
nels one loilometer lons each, a fact ehich considerably re-
duces the train density pessible on this line.
(j) Dupnitfa-eina novov Dol reilro.d line (3n km) conversion
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of the previous 30J nra hauhe line to huropean-gauge. The
project ues completed by the .?ium..ler of 194c.). The line
is of ecomAic importance or the coal nines eround Mobov
Dol.
(11 Jinitli-Lrapnik-n-eneral 2odorov railroad line (GC km).
ntrted in 194'6, this liae, runnin..; fron Jona to Jruece,
nerrow.ehnu;e (600 Lira) from onward, was converted
to huropeen hau:c. The project is completed as f-r as the
railroad station of Cioner 1 Todorov. :hen Bulcaria,durinh;
Vorld jrII, occupied ?;reck .e;cedonia, it was planned to
extend the europen n a_e line until it reached the naro-
peen-gauge ',ecean coastal line neer Valovista. rhe preect
was discontinued bee-eaee of the chen,hed territoril condi-
tions after the vor nd the political tension between pule
L;aria end Greece. Thus the section of the line from Gemul
Todorov to the Greek border has remained narrow-gauhe. ?or
this reason there is still no Luropean epauce line fre au-
mania and Bulharia to the ,egean Jea except a single-track
line runnin; along the Turkish-Greek frontier via Edirne
('?drianople) - Pityon nede 4gach.
(1) 7*onci1grad-rodkova railroad line (18 km), the exten-
sion of an existent Anaroeean-gauge line running south toward
the nrreek border. It was begun durine; the last war and is
now completed as far as Podkova) The plea to continue it
to halinkovo, in Greece, there it would have joined the
rh9r;ean coastal line, has been discarded for the aerie re .eon
as project (k) above. In its present form, the incomplete
line does not have the desired importance as a feeder line
to the leceln Jea. -ilitarily, it is, however, of value as
a border sur in the district of the ihodope ;ts, which is
poor in railroad facilities.
(hi) Dansko-Dobriniste railroad line (le kn), en,Lension of an
existent 76c 'Jn, hau,e line, completed in late The
continuation of this narrow-cu,e line is scheduled to run
alon; the -cute valley toward the Greek border as far as
awrokoe. Thu Hie is of e.lual military and economic impor-
tance in the leetern ahodeee district. It is also pleana to
join this line between bensko end WrAtli to -641e network of
stenderd-couge lines in the western pert of the country. This
project has not prohressed beyond the plennin; steee.
(n) piens :on the constrection of teo new standard :.;a11,.;e
railro _en. lines into -iueoslav oodoniu, which duria; the war
was occupied by Bulecria, have been discarded due tc the
chan_ed situation rafter the tar and the political tension
between the two nedhhborinc states, particularly after 1948.
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The projects concerned were
(1) The Gjuesevo-Kumanove - (5kop1je) and the
(2) Goma Dzumaja-Kocani - (Voles) railroad lines.
Preparations for this project were under ray during 7or1d Yar II.
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The two lines elould have created additional- urgently needed
connections between the Bulgarian railroad net and the Yneo-
slav trunk line. The realization of this project will be un-
feasible as lone as the Tito-.Cominform conflict continues.
1aEESPJLJEIRIELAa91
a. In this field, Bulgaria suffered major losses in the first
two postwar years. Under the pretext of confiscating railroad
equipment left by the Gereans, the zpviets in 1945/46 withdreW
many Bulgarian locomotives end freight cars from the country.
This created a bottleneck which it will be,e1Ppossible to eli-
minate for year8.
etecks available in late 1948:
Locomotives, European geuge, 551, including:
43 fast locomotives,
163 passenger locomotives,
133 freight locomotives,
the remainder are small tank-locomotives.
115 narrow-gauge locomotives with gauges of 600 and 760 mm,
Railroad cars:
5,780 open freight ears of various types,
4,064 box freight cars,
469 passenger cars,
219 baggage and service cars.
The ohortaee of freight cars caused considerable difficulties
in 1948, villa). the IL-Irvest products had to be shipped'. eeeore
din; to an announceeent by the etate eailways, the car situ-
ation in 1949, mostly due to organizational reforms and not to
increases of stock, improved to such an extent that adequate
frei;ht space could be leade available.
b. .ith regard to these difficulties, the current rive-year
plan, ter;Anating in 1953, enviseees t:e: procurement of:
87 locomotives, includin; 35 electric locomotives
120 passenger cars,
3,250 freight ears of all types
27 otor rail cars, and
30 coaches to be attached to motor rail one's.
eiome of them are to be built domestically, SOMO are to be im-
ported, chiefly from Czechoslovakia.
c. Railroad industry:
in late 1948 the first Bulgarian locomotive was built at a cosel
of 15 million Leva in the newly constructed. ?Georgi Dimitreff
Locomotive and Railroad Cr 17actory in eofie. Thus the foun-
dation for a national railroad industry waslaid*
The construction of 10 additional locomotives was begun in 1949.
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The follovihg state-owned installations are available for
new construction and rear work:
Locomotive Repair shop in Sofia,
locomotive Repair Shop in Russ;
"Zdrevinan Railroad Car Factory in Drenovo,
wearelvag,ft a former Bulgarian shareholding company for
building ships, locomotives, and railroad cars, in Varna;
eailroad col* repair shop in Burgas, and
23 small repair shops in various towns, the most important
oC thea being located in pleven, Madly, and Gorna Orekhovitsa.
6. Military Vulnerabilla_q_Ihe Bulgarian Sailroad Net
Seviet transit traffic and intra-Bulgarian rail operations
can be effectively interrupted since the nettork of Bulgarian
railroad lines is so loosely woven that there ere almost no
-Jsrouting facilities in case a given line should be blocked.
a., Disruption or transit shipping:
The snail nunber of rail crossinee into neighboring states
pereits a sustained interruption of rail traffic through Bul-
geria. of the see: transit routes, the important line from
yegoslavia to Turkey can easily be eliminated for a consider-
able time, since it is single-trac.t and rerouting facilities
are not available, eir attacks against the eerie rail junc-
*Sten and aguinet both to line and the bridges around Tsari-
bPod, the yugoslav-Bulgerian border station, would block the
oLly connection with yugoslavia.
IL its eastern section, this single-track line can be inter-
rupted most erfActively near the Greek-Turkish border by the
destruction of the Maritsa bridge near Pityon (see attached
photograph, ennex 3) and of the erda bridge test of Edirne.
Rerouting facilities do not exist there.
Nes transit operations can best be interrupted as follows:
To Greece by air attacks against the railroad stetion of
Geneigi-Tbdorov, which is of outstanding importance as the
transloading point from European to narrow gauge on the only
rail connection to the south.
To aunania either by the sinking of the rail ferry operating
ER-1766a-Wase and Giurgiu or by the -being of this section of
the Danube river. The second direct end sinele-track rail con-
nection leads over a bridge systelz several kilometers long be-
tween petesti and Gernavoda in Reelania. The bridges can be
doetroyed with long-lasting effect either from the air or by
paetisans.
b. paralyzing Intra-Bulgarian rail operations:
The sparseness of the exclusively single-track railroad not
hardly allows'amy reroutinG possibilities in case of interrup-
tion of the most important lines. The lines have many brid-
gee, often located in rough and rugged aountain areas with al-
eloet no roads, and for this reason difficult to repair. Their
demolition is bound to have a long-lasting effect0 if attacks
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against the important rail bridos are combined with con-
cir attaCks against the few but decisive railroad
Junctions of jofia, :ezdral Plovdiv, Gorna Orekhovitsa,
3inde1, and Earnobat, the Bulgarian railroad system can be
offectively paralyzed.
Annexes:
Cl) map of thc Bulgarian lailroad Net? Status
of December 1949
(2) photograph of the :a ii 'Zerry "Jofia."
Operating between use and Giurgiu.
(3) photograph of the Bridge over the .aritsa
River near Pity-on (Turkish border).
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