July the 18th, 2022 - One ''fast'' Split-Osijek train ended up arriving much later than it should have done, and not because of technical issues, but because the dispatcher allegedly fell asleep on the job.
There was another story fairly recently about a train arriving to Zagreb late because the driver simply didn't bother to turn up to work that day, so this shouldn't come as much of a surprise, although you have to admit it's quite amusing.
Croatia isn't really known for its trains being amazing, or even half decent to be perfectly honest. They often arrive late, the system is ancient, and it often seems like what would be an absolutely golden opportunity when it comes to tourism and indeed just regular transport, Croatian trains are lagging more than just a little bit.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, according to a report from RTL, the so-called fast Split-Osijek train was left at a standstill at the signal for as long as 42 minutes until the dispatcher finally woke up from his slumber.
The train arrived in front of Sveti Ivan Zabno and stopped at the signal, i.e. traffic light and waited... Some minutes passed, 42 of them in total, and while the dispatcher was sleeping, the train was still sitting and waiting. The aforementioned portal writes that they tried to call the sleeping dispatcher on his mobile phone, but to no avail, until the station master knocked on his door. Even he had to knock for a while for him to wake up from his deep sleep and - finally let the train move forward.
The train thus stood at the entrance signal from 07:40 until 08:22, simply waiting for its instructor to wake up.
Croatian Railways (HZ) has so far only confirmed that the train did indeed come to a halt at the entrance signal of the Sveti Ivan Zabno station, but they didn't want to comment on what exactly happened, obviously with good reason, so an inquiry was also sent to Sveti Ivan Zabno station.
"On July the 17th, 2022, from 07:54 to 08:20 on the L214 Gradec-Sveti Ivan Zabno line, Split-Osijek train 1783 stopped for 26 minutes at the entrance signal of the Sveti Ivan Zabno station. The reason for the train stopping was a personal mistake by the train dispatcher working at Sveti Ivan Zabno station. Due to the above, the proper procedure will be conducted against the aforementioned worker in accordance with the Labour Regulations and the Collective Agreement of HZ Infrastruktura d.o.o. The worker will be warned in writing about this omission with the possibility of terminating his employment contract. In addition to the above, the worker is being referred to the Commission for Damages due to the delayed train," the station announced, adding that the worker was not intoxicated on the job.
They admitted, therefore, that the Split-Osijek train was delayed due to an oversight by the aforementioned worker, but they didn't admit that he fell asleep. But what about the passengers and their rights in such situations? There were 96 of them sitting on the train.
"According to EC Regulation number 1371/2007 on the rights and obligations of passengers using rail transport, the passengers are entitled to compensation for delays in the following cases - for delays of 60 to 119 minutes, compensation is paid in the amount of 25 percent of the ticket price, and for delays longer than 120 minutes, compensation is issued to pay for 50 percent of the ticket price", Croatian Railways told RTL.hr.
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