After the tragedy with 4 victims in a fire in a carriage at the Central Railway Station in Sofia - how are the trains secured and why have homeless people been entering and spending the night in them for years?
Railway transport expert Dr. Lyudmil Ivanov told "Hello, Bulgaria" on "Nova TV" that there should be strict security at the Sofia Central Station. "At night, only personnel related to the trains can stay in them for a short time, in order to improve service and repairs. Other presence is prohibited. There are cameras that have been operating since 2016-17, when the renovated station was opened. I expect that they will not have artificial intelligence and will not be able to recognize specific incidents - so they need to be modernized. The presence of the Gendarmerie is not enough, this needs to be improved. The carriages can be unlocked with pliers and wrenches, very basic", he commented.
According to him, there is an idea to install body cameras on the transport staff in the trains. "The new locomotives, which will arrive in 2-3 years, will also have video surveillance. In the summer of 2024, there were three signals to the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Labor that homeless people were sleeping in the carriages. The departments deny it and say that they have taken the necessary measures, but we saw that someone did not do their job", the expert explained.
Dr. Lyudmil Ivanov called for an example to be taken from the Pernik railway station in dealing with the homeless.