The capital's trams are washed with brandy, and the seats are cleaned with a home vacuum cleaner, although according to the contract they must be washed. These and other scandalous facts about hygiene in urban transport were established by the Deputy Mayor for Transport Eng. Iliyan Pavlov and a group of municipal councilors from PP-DB (Save Sofia) during a surprise inspection at one of the tram depots.
In a video circulated on social networks, employees of the company that won a contract for BGN 760,000 can be heard admitting that the windows are washed with brandy and the seats are not washed because they are “new”.
The inspection also found discrepancies in the number of employees who must maintain hygiene, as according to the contract there should be 4 per shift, but instead the deputy mayor hired 2, and only later did a third join . “What is happening is absolutely unacceptable. New trams and buses are bought, and then hygiene is at an extremely low level. Thus, there is no way to retain and attract new passengers to the system. For me, cleanliness in transport becomes an absolute priority. All contracts will be revised and an internal cleaning unit with an adequate budget and equipment will be moved.”, said Deputy Mayor for Transport Iliyan Pavlov.
Boris Bonev, chairman of the PP-DB (Save Sofia) group, who also took part in the inspection, clearly showed that a tram that underwent a major cleaning only 5 days earlier looks as if it was never a myth. The experiment demonstrated that the seats, handles, ceilings and lamps of the vehicles were covered with dust and grease.
“Cleanliness in trams is not related to huge money, but to effort and care for passengers. The service we currently offer is at a low level, and thus the ambitious goals set by Mayor Terziev, by 2035 for 80% of trips to be made by public transport, will not be achieved. What is happening in the landfills must change urgently. Municipal councilors Bonka Vasileva and Dimitar Petrov promised that with the joint efforts of the Metropolitan Municipality and the Municipal Council, control over the execution of contracts will be increased and additional funds will be provided for repairs in depots and garages, so that all employees will have better conditions for labor. “Our goal is that both employees and passengers are satisfied with the conditions”, added Vasileva.