site.btaThe Woes of Bulgarian State Railways: Old Rolling Stock, Poor Maintenance and Lack of Qualified Staff

The three worst problems of public railways carrier Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) are the extremely outdated rolling stock, poor maintenance and lack of qualified staff, Transport Minister Hristo Aleksiev said here Wednesday. He was speaking during a hearing at the parliamentary transport committee which expected to hear from his the reason for several train accidents in recent months.

"The problems are many, they have been building up over the years," Aleksiev said of railway transport in Bulgaria. 

He said that due to low wages in the sector it is already difficult to attract qualified personnel. He described the working conditions as "outrageous" and called the spaces for rest for the BDZ staff "a disgrace". 

The transport committee also heard other Ministry officials and representatives of the Railway Infrastructure Company and BDZ

Deputy Transport Minister Krassimir Papukchiiski presented data which made it clear that there have been as many as 28 cases of rolling stock catching fire in the past one-and-a-half years, involving both with passenger and freight trains. The frequency of such incidents is increasing, he said.

Transport committee chair Georgi Svilenski (BSP for Bulgaria) said that urgent measures need to be taken to end that.