Train crash exposes serious problems in Bulgarian railways

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.