BDŽ

Bulgarian State Railways Holding

Native name	Холдинг Български държавни железници
Romanized name	Balgarski darzhavni zheleznitsi Holding
Type	Government-owned corporation
Industry	Transport
Founded	1885
Headquarters	Sofia, Bulgaria
Area served	Bulgaria
Key people	Georgi Drumev
Services	Passenger and freight transport
Number of employees	17,867
Website	www.bdz.bg

Bulgarian State Railways

Map of the Bulgarian railway network
Locale	Bulgaria
Dates of operation	1885–
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	25kV AC, 50Hz OHLE
Length	4,070 km (2,529.0 mi) (as of 31 Dec 2012)

The Bulgarian State Railways (Bulgarian: Български държавни железници, Balgarski darzhavni zheleznitsi, abbreviated as БДЖ, BDZ or BDŽ) are Bulgaria's state railway company and the largest railway carrier in the country, established as an entity in 1885. The company's headquarters are located in the capital Sofia. Since the 1990s the BDŽ has met serious competition from automotive transport. For the period 1994 to 2010 there is significant drop in the market share in the passenger and freight services and the lack of competent management worsens the situation. Up to 2002 the company owned/managed the railway infrastructure in the country, when according to EU regulations a new state company, the National Railway Infrastructure Company, was founded and became the owner of the infrastructure.

Bulgaria is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC Country Code for Bulgaria is 52.

Since the last reforms in 2007, a new organizational structure has been approved.

BDŽ Inc. (a holding company with one shareholder, the Republic of Bulgaria)

Still there are many problems with the organizational structure of the holding. In order to optimize the running costs many of the employees from the administration should be laid off. There is an evident lack of effectiveness in the administration and the main goal of the Ministry of Transport, Information Technologies and Telecommunication is to make the company profitable.

The scenic Septemvri-Dobrinishte narrow gauge line was finished in 1945. It is now famous for its beautiful views. It goes through the station of Avramovo, which is the highest railway station on the Balkans at 1267.4 meters. Further on, it passes through the summer and winter tourist centre of Bansko. The line is 760mm gauge, unelectrified, and is primarily served by diesel power locomotives, however there are well preserved steam locomotives that provide attraction tours. Even though it is very attractive to tourists, it is also widely used by the local inhabitants for public transport purposes.