Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications

The Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Ivaylo Moskovski visited the railway station of Stryama where earlier today a passenger train derailed. He was made acquainted with the situation on spot and ordered investigation of the case as well as immediate measures for the prevention of accidents in the future. Minister Moskovski ordered reduction of train speed in regions with complicated weather conditions so as to avoid possible accidents.

There are no injured passengers in today’s accident. All the 15 passengers were transported by coach to the town of Koprivtchitsa in the 20 minutes after the accident. The causes for the derailment of the engine and two of the carriages of passenger train № 30111, which was travelling along the line Sofia – Karlovo, are to be investigated. A team from the Aircraft, Maritime and Railway Accident Investigation Unit Directorate at MTITC is currently examining the area.  Following the examination the engine and the carriages are to be removed and the damaged switches – rehabilitated.

At the moment trains in the area Koprivtchitsa – Stryama is suspended. Passengers travelling in the region are transported by coach.

As a result of the heavy rains trains in several regions of the country are stopped. Emergency teams and specialized equipment of National Railway Infrastructure Company are located in the problematic areas and are currently able to restore the suspended train traffic. These are the lines Blagoevgrad – Simitli, Harmali – Luibimetz, Dyakovo – Dupnitsa, Velingrad – Tsvetino, Svilengrad – Luibimets, Anton – Koprivtchitsa, Vladaya – grona Banya, Zemen – Aleksander Dimitrov, Vidbol – Sratsimir, Hrabarsko – Razmenna, and Platchkovtsi – Krastets.

At the moment the traffic between the stations of Dalgopol and Komunari is suspended due to flooded tracks and fallen rocks, and between the stations of Komunari – Smyadovo – due to lack of voltage along the overhead lines.