BDZ

As of today, the movement of the international train traveling between Sofia and Istanbul is restored. This became clear after the management of BDZ (Bulgarian Railways) and the Turkish Railways (TCDD) agreed to start the train again before the start of the summer season.

A recovery program for the Bulgarian Railways (BDZ) will be announced today - it provides a comprehensive plan for new management of railway transport, the changes will be visible within six months.

Bulgarian state-owned railway company BDZ Passengers, a wholly-owned unit of BDZ Holding, saw its passengers numbers decline by 20-30% due to the coronavirus pandemic, transport minister Rosen Zheliazkov said on Wednesday.

Caretaker Transport, IT and Communications Minister Georgi Todorov has relieved of their posts the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ), Grigori Grigorov, and Nikola Vassilev, Executive Director of BDZ Holding, the BDZ Holding said in a press release on Tuesday.

Since the beginning of the year there have been50 attacks on state railways' trains. In 13 of the incidents obstacles were placed on the rails. Three times as many are the attacks with stones on the railcars, coaches and train compositions.

Only after two trips from Plovdiv to Edirne and back the train was temporarily suspended, Monitor reported. Since the beginning of the month, the state railways have launched a new route, but after 68 passengers carried on weekends and many publications in the media, the voyages have been canceled.

On the occasion of the International Children's Day BDZ this year will continue to observe its good tradition and will give free travel to all Bulgarian children up to 14 years of age. Young passengers can take advantage of this opportunity from 00:00 to 24:00 on June 1st in all passenger and fast trains (2nd class).

BDZ will invest BGN 71 mln this year to improve the service. According to the requirement of the European Union, Bulgaria opens its rail market for foreign carriers. Liberalization means that BDZ will compete with foreign private carriers, the Bulgarian National Television writes. 

BDZ passengers will be able to monitor online whether they are on a scheduled or delayed train that they will use or will welcome a close person traveling with it. This became possible after BDZ-Passenger Transport improved its information service by adding an active LIVE electronic dashboard to its site.