Railway Herald
Despite some reports that the BZK (Bulgarian Railway Company) imported Class 87 electrics are now seldom used it was somewhat refreshing to see 87-034 out on the main line in it's own right on a tank train. Heading westbound at Voluyak towards the Serbian border on 3rd May 2023 displaying the somewhat weathered look 87-034 has charge of a rake of GAZPROM NEFT bogie tanks. GAZPROM NEFT is a Serbian-based subsidiary of the mighty Russian Gazprom fuel/oil company. BZK have recently out-shopped sister loco 87-029 following a full repaint in the company livery of green and yellow suggesting that the Class 87's are still very much active and that those reports were perhaps a tad premature!.
Stephen Ginn
