site.btaTransport Minister: Railway Travel Back to Normal

Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeikov, who commented the effect of the snowfall on Bulgaria's rail routes, said that according to the information from 6 a.m. on Monday, the situation is returning to normal. Gvozdeikov reported on Nova TV that the situation has been extremely challenging over the past hours with more than 30 teams working in heavy snow and wind to fix it.

The Minister said that problems with trains were caused by broken overhead wires and trees fallen on the line. "The main railway tracks are passable, work is underway on two of the secondary tracks," he said and added that there are no distressed passengers as of the time of the interview. Some passengers had to wait for 4-5 hours before they were serviced.

Gvozdeikov said that transport was provided for some 50 pupils, who had to travel from Sofia to different cities across the country. Before they were taken, they waited for several hours at the train station with no clarity on when their train will arrive.

Commenting on the road traffic, Gvozdeikov said: "Some of the chaos is to be blamed on the drivers themselves. It is only after the media reports of expected rough winter conditions that we remember that we should be on the road, and we are completely unprepared".