Septemvri · Velingrad · Bansko · Dobrinishte

From the Bulgarian Mountains

760 mm gauge

NovaTrax Partners is a specialist infrastructure developer revitalising Bulgaria's 125 km Rhodope narrow-gauge spine — connecting heritage, nature, and community in the Balkan mountains, with a long-term vision for further connections beyond it.

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77-002
125 km
Core Spine
35
Tunnels
1,267 m
Summit Altitude
760 mm gauge
Balkans · fastest-growing adventure tourism market in Europe
Record tourism 2025 · €1.43bn accommodation revenue +16% YoY
Septemvri → Dobrinishte · 125 km of scenic slow travel
35 tunnels · 27 bridges · 1,267 m altitude
CEF Transport envelope · €25.8bn available 2021–2027
UK visitors +22% YoY · Germany +24% YoY · 2025
Rail over road · lower carbon, higher scenery
760 mm gauge
Balkans · fastest-growing adventure tourism market in Europe
Record tourism 2025 · €1.43bn accommodation revenue +16% YoY
Septemvri → Dobrinishte · 125 km of scenic slow travel
35 tunnels · 27 bridges · 1,267 m altitude
CEF Transport envelope · €25.8bn available 2021–2027
UK visitors +22% YoY · Germany +24% YoY · 2025
Rail over road · lower carbon, higher scenery

The line the state left behind

Bulgaria's 760 mm narrow gauge spine from Septemvri to Dobrinishte is one of Europe's great unheralded railway journeys — traversing the Rhodope and Rila mountains through 35 tunnels and across 27 bridges at altitudes reaching 1,267 m above sea level.

Opened in stages between 1926 and 1945, this line was built with extraordinary engineering to serve mountain communities, spa resorts, and agricultural valleys. Today it operates at a 36 km/h average with ageing stock — overlooked by a state railway programme focused entirely on standard gauge.

"The government's €326.7 million Alstom rolling-stock contract covers only standard-gauge trains — leaving the 760 mm spine entirely unaddressed. That is NovaTrax territory."

NovaTrax Partners™ is structured to pursue this opportunity: a phased programme of rehabilitation and expansion, grant-stacked through EU cohesion funds, proposed for delivery under a long-term concession, and designed from the ground up for the growing premium mountain tourism market.

Septemvri
284 m
Vetren
331 m
Kostandovo
801 m
Velingrad
744 m — Spa Resort
Avramovo
1,267 m — Summit
Yakoruda
1,000 m
Belitsa
840 m — Dancing Bears
Razlog
806 m
Bansko
930 m — UNESCO / Ski
Dobrinishte
810 m
Core spine · 125 km · 22 stations & halts

The numbers behind the opportunity

Communities Served
22
Mountain villages, spa towns, and ski resorts · locals and travellers alike
Tourism Spend Multiplier
3×
European benchmark · rail visitors stay longer, spend more, return more often
Carbon Footprint
Lower
Rail replaces car and coach journeys through terrain no highway serves
Heritage Rail
125km
Bulgaria's mountain spine · no systematic structural renewal in decades
Bulgaria Tourism · Record Year 2025 13.6M visitors · €1.43bn accommodation revenue
UK visitors +22% YoY
Germany visitors +24% YoY
Accommodation revenue +16% YoY

A new type of railway experience

NovaTrax Partners exists to bring modern infrastructure discipline — capital, technology, and political will — back to rail.

01
Infrastructure
Rehabilitating heritage rail corridors to full operating standard — track, structures, rolling stock, and signalling.
02
Finance
Structuring blended finance across private capital and development finance institutions.
03
Government & Policy
Engaging regulators and institutions directly — building the legal and political case for narrow-gauge rail's return.
04
Technology & Data
Modern route modelling and data-driven planning tools, bringing 21st-century engineering discipline to heritage rail.
"The narrow gauge does not compete with modernity. It carries something modernity cannot — the particular intimacy of a mountain journey at human scale."

NovaTrax Partners · Balkan Narrow Gauge Railways · Est. 2026

125 km through the Rhodope mountains

Septemvri to Dobrinishte. 35 tunnels. 27 bridges. 1,267 metres above sea level. This is the line NovaTrax Partners is bringing back to life.

THE JOURNEY Septemvri → Dobrinishte · 125 km · 760 mm gauge · Watch on YouTube ↗
Watch on YouTube ↗

Where the track leads

Highest Station · Balkans
Avramovo
1,267 m · Summit
Europe's highest narrow-gauge railway station, at the roof of the Rhodope–Rila alpine saddle. Ancient forests, eagle nesting grounds, and sweeping views across two mountain ranges.
UNESCO · Ski Resort
Bansko
116 km · 930 m
Bulgaria's premier ski destination and a UNESCO-protected old town. BalkanRail Express winter specials — park the car, ride the mountain.
SPA Capital · Balkans
Velingrad
35 km · 744 m
The spa capital of the Balkans, with over 70 mineral springs and the iconic Kleptuza karst spring lakes — a wellness destination unlike anywhere else on the line.

Sites & destinations
along the route

Explore 22 stations and halts, 30+ heritage sites and mountain destinations across 125 km of Rhodope railway.

Plan your
Rhodope journey

Septemvri to Dobrinishte · 125 km · 22 stations & halts · 1,267 metres above sea level.

Request More Information

We welcome enquiries from investors, funds, development finance, and government stakeholders interested in a rail revival.

NovaTrax Partners is founded and led by Krassi Genov, a Washington, DC–based executive with over 20 years of experience building go-to-market strategy and driving growth at technology companies.

Full investment materials — including the detailed business case, financial model, and regulatory strategy — are available to qualified investors and government counterparts under NDA.