site.btaUrgent Check of National Railway Infrastructure Company Launched

Bulgarian Transport and Communications Minister Georgi Gvozdeykov has ordered an urgent check into the organization of the activities of the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC), Gvozdeykov's Ministry said in a press release on Friday.

The check will run from June 7 to 19 and will cover the company's financial management and control, the safety management systems, and the health and safety at work procedures.

The Ministry specified that the urgent check was prompted by a recent increase in the frequency of railway incidents, the latest of which occurred on Thursday evening.

The reference is to an incident in which a 56-year-old NRIC employee was killed and a 51-year-old worker of the company was seriously injured near Pleven (North Central Bulgaria) on Thursday. The two were working on the rail track when a Varna-Vratsa train hit them near the Gorni Dabnik Dam.

Boycho Skrobanski of the National Board for Aircraft, Maritime and Railway Accident Investigation told BTA that the fast train was travelling at a speed of 110 km/h. The NRIC added that the severe accident was probably due to a breach of the safety instructions. 

"I ordered a check so as to find out the problems and omissions that led to these incidents and to the problems at the NRIC," Gvozdeykov told journalists on Friday during a visit to the Border Police air base at Sofia Airport. Caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev and Health Minister Galia Kondeva were there, too.

"Such large organizations that manage transport and infrastructure must have a working quality management system. This system must analyze and identify the problems that even result in loss of life," Gvozdeykov commented. "After the check is completed, the relevant measures will be taken and responsibility will be meted out so that the NRIC process and operation can be improved," he said, adding that he will not link the incidents to what is going on at the NRIC.  

Regarding a case in which an engine driver cut five tubes of a Skoda locomotive braking system and broke the vehicle's windshield, Gvozdeykov said that an investigation is in progress.

In his words, the NRIC is carrying out a large part of the rail track repairs without disruption of train services, which requires even tighter safety measures and more serious control of the employees' working conditions.