Transport Minister Orders Railway Company to Draw Up Troubleshooting Plans The caretaker Minister of Transport, Hristo Alexiev, has required Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) to draw up a long-term and a short-term plan to address its problems. Alexiev told a news conference on Tuesday that the short-term action plan should guarantee the fulfillment of the passenger train timetable in 2017. He described the situation at BDZ as "highly critical" and said that the management of the national railway company has not taken any steps to overcome the problems. BDZ's passenger division is failing to provide the services which it is scheduled to provide because it does not have enough locomotives and motor carriages. "Nothing has been done to address the issue. Not a single procedure has been started to award contracts for the repair of motor carriages, or for renting locomotives and motor carriages," Alexiev said. In 2016, BDZ spent one million leva on providing temporary bus services as a substitute for train services for which it had no locomotives. "This is shortsightedness, and it means that there is no clear concept about how to solve the problem," Alexiev said. There are now plans to examine all available locomotives and conduct procedures for renting more of them. Various options exist to refinance the BDZ loan, the minister said. Discussing Operational Programme "Transport," Alexiev said the main task is to finish the old programme. All relevant reports are to be submitted by March in order to prevent possible losses of funding. In connection with the new programme, an integrated transport strategy should be devised by the end of March.
Source: Standart (08.02.2017)

Bulgaria’s Transport Minister Sets up BDZ Rescue Plan "A plan containing urgent measures meant to secure the sustainable functioning of Bulgaria's state railway carrier BDZ is going to be presented next week," Transport Minister Hristo Aleksiev told journalists at a special news conference at the Council of Ministers, yesterday. He went on to say that the company's new leadership had managed to provide ten extra locomotives for the BDZ passenger service through reorganization and optimization of the subsidiary's work. A few days ago, BDZ CEO was dismissed, following a conclusion of Minister Aleksiev that the company had not provided enough locomotives for the normal functioning of its passenger service. As a result, last year alone BDZ had to pay BGN 1.3 M for the transportation of its passengers by coaches, in the sectors of the railway system where there aren't enough locomotives. Yesterday, Minister Aleksiev said BDZ actually had the locomotives in their depots, but the their timetable was inefficient and thus they could not service all destinations.
Source: Standart (16.02.2017)

Four firms show interest in Bulgaria’s 70 mln euro train maintenance tender The Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) company said on Tuesday four companies have submitted applications for participation in a 137 million levs ($74.3 million/69.8 million euro) tender for the maintenance of diesel and electric multiple-unit trains. The tender has attracted the interest of Bulgaria’s Expres Servise, France’s Alstom, Stadler Hungary and Desiro Siemens, BDZ said in a press release. The candidates who pass the preliminary selection process will be invited to submit technical and price offers. The participants in the tender will be required to provide maintenance services for 22 diesel and 24 electric multiple-unit trains for a period of five years, according to a notice posted on the website of the country's public procurement agency.
Source: Sega (08.03.2017)

BDZ wants BGN 1.3 billion for new trains “We have estimated budgets for what investments are needed for the overall technological upgrading of the railways. The sums are huge - an investment of between BGN 800 million and BGN 1.3 billion,” said Vladimir Vladimirov, CEO of Holding Bulgarian State Railways EAD. He presented a draft for the purchase of new train. Vladimirov presented a special report, developed by 3 universities - UNWE, Technical University and Higher Transport School, together with experts from BDZ, NRIC and representatives of the Ministry of Transport. Conditional investment in the technological renewal of the carrier will be divided into two stages. “The first one is planned to buy 41 wagon trains, and the second one - 44. The minimum amount needed for Passenger Transport to make the first stage is BGN 380 million,” Vladimirov specified. The first new trains will come into use during the end of the government's term.
Source: Standart (05.09.2017)