Residents of the capital's "Kremikovtsi" district blocked the railway line in protest against the prolonged closure of the crossing in the area. According to the protesters, the barriers remain lowered for up to 30 minutes, 15 times a day, which creates serious difficulties for their movement.
"We stand for 40 minutes and waste time. People pass en masse on lowered barriers because they are nervous. Sometimes there are kilometer-long queues of 60-70 cars", one of the protest participants told NOVA TV.
The National Company "Railway Infrastructure" (NRIC) confirmed that there is a regulation according to which crossings should not remain closed for more than 20 minutes. However, according to local residents, the norm is systematically violated.
The dangerous crossing of the lowered barriers has become an everyday occurrence for many residents of the area, with cars and pedestrians sometimes crossing within a hair's breadth of passing trains.
Protesters have been demanding for years the construction of an overpass that would permanently solve the problem of long waits at the crossing.