Marinela Neofitova shared on social networks her story about traveling on fast train 4610 from Sofia to Ruse on July 24 - one of the hottest days of the summer. The train departed from Sever station at 3:40 a.m., but the air conditioning system did not work at all from the very beginning. The journey, which lasted seven hours and was delayed by 50 minutes, became a real test for the passengers.
„The air conditioners did not work from the very beginning. The panels in the carriages were open, but the problems started as soon as we set off. The conductor was running back and forth and repeating „It's 58 degrees here, the air conditioners have failed“, she said. According to her, the windows in the carriages could not be opened, and only two small ones at the end of the train were slightly ajar.
“People with books and fans were making a breeze, adult passengers could barely stand it, and I was with a small child who was crying and sweating. In the end, I had to undress him so that he would not suffer“, added Neofitova.
She reported several times to the national BDZ complaints hotline, but there was no reaction. “I called, they told me that they would check if a technician could get on at the next stop. Half an hour later - nothing. I called again. They said that they would talk to the conductor to move us to the first carriage with windows. But the train was overcrowded and there was no way for everyone to move“, the passenger recalls.
Later, the Bulgarian Railways said that the passengers were offered re-accommodation, but Marinela denies this. “There is no such thing. I went around all the carriages – the air conditioners were not working anywhere. The conductors said that it was cooler in the next carriage, but that was not true“, she claims and compares the situation with the practice in Italy, where she lives: “In Italy, if a similar problem occurs, another train or buses are immediately provided for the passengers. There was no reaction here“.
A similar problem was also shared by the Minister of Transport Grozdan Karadjov, who said that a crisis headquarters would work to ensure that no train would be without a working air conditioner, and that an engineer would travel to fix the technical errors, but during Marinela's trip there was none.
The minister wrote under the woman's post on social networks. According to him, the air conditioning systems are not suitable for our heat, but they cannot remove them in the summer, because there are already 43 carriages or over 3,000 seats missing. There is nowhere to get new ones or rent them. To relieve the crowded and hot trains on busy destinations, they are stopping 34 trains in three areas with lower traffic and moving them to areas with increased passenger traffic.
However, Marinela is adamant that the lack of quick and adequate action is unacceptable: “I don't know what else we as passengers should do. I tried calling all the institutions, but there was no response. This is not normal”, says the woman.