As a continuation of the "silk road" from China, a double railway line between Edirne and Istanbul will be built with the idea of continuing through Plovdiv to Sofia. This was announced by the governor of Edirne Gunay Ouzdemir to the representatives of Bulgarian media, Dnevnik daily reported.

For this purpose, the railway station at Kapuskule border crossing will be developed in order to be able to support the traffic of both speed trains and freight. The cargo lines will be taken to a separate line, the district governor added.

Bulgaria has been implementing a project for the modernization of the railway line from Sofia to Svilengrad, as part of the high-speed sections which are ready. Funding is from EU funds and from the budget.

The Turkish governor identified Plovdiv as important for Edirne considering the logistical position it has for both rail and road transport. According to him, in the future, the goods, now transported by road, will be redirected to the railway. For this, steps have already been taken in bilateral talks between the two countries at ministerial level, Ouzdemir said.

Edirne has already signed a protocol on co-operation in the field of economy, social activities and culture with Razgrad, and aims to apply this model as a benchmark to other cities and regions, he added. The plans include investments of the Turkish business in Razgrad, the first being - the nut factory, for which this year has already been sown 6,000 decares of chickpeas.