Türkiye and Bulgaria are pressing ahead with plans for a new border checkpoint exclusively for heavy goods vehicles in an effort to relieve chronic congestion at Kapıkule–Kapitan Andreevo, one of the world’s busiest land crossings.
Officials from the two neighbouring countries inspected the proposed site on Thursday, 11 September, north of the existing Kapıkule border gate, as Ankara and Sofia seek to significantly increase capacity on the key road corridor connecting Türkiye with the European Union.
Provisionally named Kapıkule–Kapitan Andreevo North, the new checkpoint would be dedicated to heavy goods traffic, separating lorries from much of the passenger traffic using the existing crossing and helping to reduce the lengthy queues that regularly form on both sides of the border.
The need for extra capacity is considerable. Kapıkule on the Turkish side and Kapitan Andreevo on the Bulgarian side together form Europe’s busiest land border crossing and are widely cited by Bulgarian authorities and transport researchers as the second-busiest land crossing in the world, particularly in terms of commercial traffic. Bulgaria’s Customs Agency formally described Kapitan Andreevo in 2024 as the world’s second-busiest checkpoint for processing land commercial traffic.
Traffic has continued to grow sharply. Bulgarian Customs figures showed that road traffic entering Bulgaria from Türkiye had risen by 50 percent in just five years, while congestion involving freight vehicles remains a regular occurrence at Kapitan Andreevo. As recently as 9 September, Bulgarian authorities were reporting heavy outbound truck traffic towards Türkiye.
On the Turkish side, more than 7.7 million passengers passed through Kapıkule during 2025, according to a report in Hurriyet Daily News. Some 2.5 million passengers and more than 600,000 vehicles used the crossing during the particularly busy summer period, when large numbers of Turkish citizens living in Western Europe travel overland to Türkiye and back.
Freight volumes are equally substantial. On 7 December 2025, Kapıkule processed 3,442 commercial vehicles in a single day — 1,753 entering Türkiye and 1,689 leaving — one of the highest daily totals recorded at the crossing.
New checkpoint to be reserved for lorries
The latest talks involved Türkiye’s Deputy Trade Minister Sezai Uçarmak and Bulgaria’s Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev, together with senior customs, border and regional officials.
After discussions at Kapıkule, the delegations visited the land earmarked for the new checkpoint close to the existing crossing. Its proximity to Kapitan Andreevo should make it easier to connect the new terminal to existing road and other infrastructure.
Uçarmak said reserving the new facility for heavy goods vehicles would improve traffic efficiency and help develop trade, while Demerdzhiev said the countries shared the aim of creating a border that was both “secure and fast”.
The two governments are now preparing to sign an agreement covering construction and establish a joint expert commission to determine the project's technical specifications. No firm construction timetable or opening date has yet been announced.
The proposal is not entirely new. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said during talks in Sofia in June that Türkiye and Bulgaria had reaffirmed their commitment to establishing a new crossing north of Kapıkule, describing the existing gate as “Europe’s busiest border gate”.
The new terminal forms part of a wider programme to improve transport links between Türkiye and Bulgaria and strengthen the Trans-European Transport Network. Bulgaria is also expanding and modernising its three existing road crossings with Türkiye — Kapitan Andreevo–Kapıkule, Lesovo–Hamzabeyli and Malko Tarnovo–Dereköy.
The existing Kapitan Andreevo facility is itself undergoing expansion, with Bulgarian authorities previously saying the works should increase its processing capacity by around 25 percent.
