en.Wedoany.com Reported - Alstom has shipped the first six-car Coradia Stream electric multiple units (EMUs) from its Bautzen plant in Germany to Bulgaria, marking the initial delivery of 35 trains ordered under a €720 million contract signed in 2025. The contract is executed by the BULEMU consortium, comprising Alstom and local company RVP Invest, with the vehicle procurement portion valued at €452 million and a long-term maintenance package worth €268 million. These 160 km/h regional trains represent Alstom's first supply of passenger rolling stock to Bulgaria's national operator BDZ.
The contract covers the manufacturing, delivery, and 15-year full maintenance of 35 six-car Coradia Stream EMUs, designed specifically for Bulgarian regional and intercity routes. Alstom's share in the contract is €600 million, with the remainder allocated to local partner RVP Invest, which will jointly provide preventive, planned, and emergency maintenance. These EMUs will operate on corridors with travel times of up to 5 hours, featuring ERTMS Level 2 signaling, digital passenger counting, and multi-system power supply compatibility, compliant with European Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI). The Bulgarian Ministry of Transport and Communications has not yet officially disclosed the specific delivery schedule for the remaining 34 trains.
BDZ has allocated €268 million for the 15-year maintenance of the 35 EMUs, reflecting lower lifecycle support costs for a standardized passenger fleet compared to high-speed infrastructure maintenance packages. For comparison, the UK's High Speed 2 (HS2) project launched a market engagement activity involving a £1.24 billion (approximately €1.45 billion) interim maintenance contract (IMC) package covering a 10-year period from 2027 to 2037. While the HS2 contract covers complex civil assets and routine repairs before the railway system's launch, the Bulgarian contract reflects a highly integrated vehicle lifecycle model where maintenance is directly bundled with the €452 million manufacturing deal to reduce BDZ's long-term operational risks.
This procurement marks a shift in Southeast European railway strategy from simple asset acquisition to long-term fleet availability assurance. By integrating ERTMS Level 2 technology directly from the German manufacturing base, BDZ aligns its network with Western European digitalization trends, laying the foundation for Bulgaria's integration into broader European interoperable railway corridors (Source: IndexBox, 2025).
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