Trucks started crossing Turkish-Bulgarian border now on rail.

As crossing Turkish-Bulgarian border becomes harder for trucks, the Bulgarian logistic company Pimk has developed a trailer train between Turkey and Bulgaria.

The train is made up of pocket wagons carrying both trailers and containers. Pimk’s own pocket wagons are being used for the service. Pimk also provides traction in Bulgaria.

Trailer trains: Trendy but not so easy

Trailer train is running between Cerkezkoy in Turkey and Plovdiv in Bulgaria.

“The railway project Plovdiv-Cerkezkoy was made possible with  launching of the Intermodal terminal  in Todor Kableskov as an initiative in reply of twenty-kilometer queues of trucks  at the border TR- BG” says Ms Kalina Kiskinova, Executive Director of Pimk Rail.

The train has taken the attention of Turkish carriers in a very short time. The service had increased to three trains per week in each direction two months after the first run. Leading Turkish carriers such as Borusan, Mars, Sunlog, Hilal Trans are using this train.

Trailer train wars

The transit time from Cerkezkoy to Plovdiv is about 20 hours and different than trucks, there’s no risk of long queues for trains.

Ms Kiskinova also stated that the prices on rail is 20-30% lower than the existing price of road transort for the same section.

The service is currently only for cranable trailers.

Cover Photo: Pimk Rail ©