After years of delays, the Danube Bridge 2 has opened, connecting Romania and Bulgaria. The 1,971m long structure is expected to transport 415,000 vehicles in its first year, including 209,000 lorries, 186,000 cars, 20,000 buses and 4,745 trains.
According to the Bulgarian authorities, it will take 12 to 15 years to pay off the bridge with the toll income: Depending on the type of vehicle used, it will cost between 6 and 37 euros to cross the bridge. Emergency service vehicles, bikers and pedestrians will not be charged.
The bridge cost 282m euros to construct, of which 106m euros came from the European Union. The remainder was raised through national financing and private investors.
The only other bridge connecting Bulgaria and Romania is the Danube Bridge 1, linking Ruse-Giurgiu, which was completed in 1954.
The project, which was started in the late 1990s, will form a key part of the European transport corridor connecting the eastern German city of Dresden and Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul.
At 1,971m, the Danube Bridge 2 may sound long, but it doesn’t even make the world’s top 50. The Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge in China is the world’s longest bridge, at an impressive 164,800m. And the Danube 2 is not even close to Europe’s longest bridge, the Aérotrain Test Track in France, which comes in at 18,000m.
But the Danube 2 will boost the local and international economy a great deal. And as a car breakdown provider to thousands of European road trippers, here at startrescue.co.uk we’re delighted to see this bridge open, since it will make visiting this part of Europe much easier and more enjoyable for our customers.
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