Bulgaria's Transport Ministry

SOFIA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Bulgaria has extended the deadline for submitting bids to run and operate Sofia airport by a month to Nov. 22, after several requests for clarification about the concession contract, the Transport Ministry said on Thursday.

The freight train that caused a deadly explosion after a derailment of tanks in the Bulgarian village of Hitrino was moving at an excessively high speed at the time of the incident, a probe shows.

Transport officials of Iran and Bulgaria have agreed to open a corridor crossing Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, and the Black Sea, Iran's private news agency Mehr reported on Sunday.

A project for a regional information technology hub uniting the networks of Bulgaria, Romania, and Serbia is to be discussed by government representatives of the three countries at a meeting in Vidin.

The project is an initiative of Bulgaria's Ministry of Transport, Information Technology, and Communications.

More than 1.1 million cars have crossed Danube Bridge 2 Vidin-Calafat since its launch on June 14, 2013, according to statistics published by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency.

According to forecasts of Bulgaria's Transport Ministry, some 450 000 vehicles were expected to use the facility in the first year after its launch.

The subway section to Sofia Airport starts functioning Thursday at 1 pm.

Starting 1 pm on Thursday until midnight, passengers who board a train at one of the new stations will travel free of charge across the entire subway network in Sofia.

Port Complex Ruse EAD will operate a regular block train line between Bulgaria and Germany, according to a media statement of Bulgaria's Transport Ministry.

The pilot project envisages intermodal road-rail combined transport.

The block train has a capacity of 68 trailers and will make one round trip per week.

Bulgaria's Transport Ministry will invest BGN 12 M in Port Burgas in 2015, according to Minister Ivaylo Moskovski.

Moskovski, as cited by Trud daily, made clear that the funding would be used to build a second module of the Burgas Marine Station and to rehabilitate the jetty.

Bulgaria's ministries of agriculture, regional development and transport have reported shortfalls which are expected to be covered by the budget update.

A total of BGN 92 M is necessary for the payment of subsidies to farmers and for the co-financing of EU projects for the development of rural areas.

Ruse will become the first Bulgarian city with a municipally-owned airport.

After three unsuccessful attempts to find a concessionaire, Bulgaria's Transport Ministry adopted a decision to transfer the airport to the Ruse Municipality.

The proposal was approved by the Ruse Municipal Council in a unanimous vote on Thursday.