The new system in Sofia public transport that makes use of electronic tickets and cards is not yet functioning, a Sofia Public Transport Company (SKGT) representative told The Sofia Echo on September 2 2008.

The new system was supposed to start functioning on September 1 in all Sofia trams and trolleybuses in which electronic reading devices and ticket counters had already been installed. But on that date, SKGT employees had just only started accepting application forms for the new electronic passes, for one and three months for all lines.

As it takes a week to issue a pass, the first ones will be ready on September 7, when the reading devices are expected to be put into use, a representative of the SKGT central office for passes issuing told The Sofia Echo.

The electronic devices for purchasing tickets work independently from the electronic pass readers, but in tests of the counters, it was shown that they were not operating properly and, therefore, were not functioning either. SKGT will have to make some changes and improvements to the electronic ticket devices to repair them, the SKGT representative said.