Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Train crash exposes serious problems in Bulgarian railways

Photo: BGNES

There are 1,300 vacancies in the National Railway Infrastructure Company, or about 10% of the jobs - mainly for mechanics, traffic controllers, and switchmen. This was what the chair of the Union of Railway Workers in Bulgaria, Petar Bunev, told BNT commenting last week's train crash near Sofia that left two dead and six injured and was a result of violation of work rules. 

According to Bunev, Bulgaria’s railways are in worse condition today than they were 35 years ago. Employees work under difficult conditions and work overtime. "The salary is less than that of a cashier in a grocery store. Why are we lowering the requirements? In the past, in order to become a traffic controller, you had to study for 3 years, now you study for 6 months," Petar Bunev said.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Cloudy, very windy, with rain and wet show in the mountains

On Thursday, minimum temperatures will range from 6°C to 11°C, reaching around 5°C in Sofia. It will be cloudy, windy and rainy during the day, with unsettled weather conditions. There will be a moderate north-easterly wind, stronger in eastern..

published on 10/1/25 7:05 PM

Ruling parties demand closure of Bulgaria's Automobile Administration Agency following bribe scandal with Robbie William's team

The leaders of ruling GERB party and "MRF - New Beginning" Boyko Borisov and Delyan Peevski have demanded immediate closure of the Executive Agency "Automobile Administration" /DAI/. The request was submitted after the scandal with agency's employees who..

published on 10/1/25 6:35 PM

NSI: Turkey, Ukraine and Syria top immigration to Bulgaria

According to detailed demographic data from the National Statistical Institute (NSI), 13,002 Bulgarians emigrated in 2024, with men accounting for 55.1% of them. During the same year, 18,214 people with Bulgarian citizenship, including returnees, moved..

published on 10/1/25 4:45 PM