ZAGREB, January 13, 2020 - Unprofitable bus lines operated by private companies inside counties and between counties have not yet been abolished, and problems faced by these companies remain, the head of the association of private companies providing bus services, Hrvoje Meštrović, said on Monday.

Meštrović told Hina that all options were on the table, including scrapping loss-making lines.

Members of that association cover 80% of bus commuting service across counties.

Meštrović says that county authorities are trying to solve the problem because they do not want bus lines to be eliminated.

However, Ana Falek of the Croatian Employers Association (HUP) says that she fears that counties with poorer budgets will not have enough money to cover the difference in costs for unprofitable commuting lines run by private bus companies. "There is no progress. It is a status quo," she says.

According to HUP estimates, 318.5 million kuna should be set aside annually in subsidies to private bus companies that cover unprofitable routes within the public transport system.

Private bus companies hired to run public lines transport 200,000 passengers a day. However, their annual losses due to unprofitable commuting lines come to 300 million kuna, according to HUP calculations.

Annual revenues of private bus companies come to 364 million kuna, which is 5.92 kuna per kilometre covered, as against an estimated economically viable yield of 11.10 kuna per kilometre.

HUP warns that the current rules for public transport bus services, adopted on 29 November by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, is the least favourable for the regions of Lika, Gorski Kotar, Bjelovar, Virovitica and Požega-Slavonia as they may lose the largest number of public bus lines.

More bus transport news can be found in the Travel section.

ZAGREB, August 23, 2019 - Bus driver trade unions started a 10-minute warning strike on Friday morning on all regular bus services across the country.

The bus drivers formed a column of about 30 buses and headed toward the Ministry of the Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure.

Buses in regular services stopped driving at ten o'clock Friday for ten minutes, only buses driving on motorways at the time of the action continued to operate.

Unions are demanding that bus drivers be given the status of officials in cases when they are exposed to attacks and threats as well as 10% wage increase in an effort to stop the drain of bus drivers from emigrating.

They are requesting an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Transport Minister Oleg Butković, adding that if their demands are not met they would launch an all-out strike on 9 September.

Union leader Stjepan Lisičak told Hina that today's action is intended to influence the government and relevant ministries to launch negotiations to resolve the problems in the public transport system.

More news about bus transport in Croatia can be found in the Travel section.

ZAGREB, August 21, 2019 - Two trade unions in the Croatian bus transport system on Wednesday said that they would hold a ten-minute walkout on Friday morning in all regular bus services across Croatia, demanding a wage increase and for a collective agreement to be concluded.

Buses in regular services will stop driving at ten o'clock Friday for ten minutes, only buses driving on motorways at the time of the action will continue to operate.

Services at bus stations will also stop working during the ten-minute action, and disgruntled workers are going to hold a protest rally outside the building of the Ministry of the Maritime Affairs and Transport in Zagreb.

One of their demands is that bus drivers should be given the status of officials in cases when they are exposed to attacks and threats.

The union leaders said today that they requested an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and the ministers of transport, finance, economy and education.

They said that they would hold another strike action on 8 September if their demands were not met.

They also demand that the authorities finally comply with Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on public passenger transport services by rail and by road.

More news about bus transportation in Croatia can be found in the Travel section.

ZAGREB, August 8, 2019 - Slovenia's bus transportation provider Nomago, which on Thursday took over the Brebus Integral company in the eastern town of Brežice near the border with Croatia, has stated that it is set to take over 30% of Croatia's bus transport market.

Nomago, which introduces itself as "a travel and mobility provider with over 600 passenger buses operating in the region between Venice and Dubrovnik", intends to take over at least 30% of Croatia's market according to its medium-term plans.

It has now the two branch offices in Croatia: one in the capital city of Zagreb and the other in the coastal city of Pula.

The Nomago director Sandi Brataševec said today that the acquisition of Brebus Integral was aimed also at strengthening Nomago's presence in the region.

The company says on its web site that it "offers full travel and mobility service – from airport transfers, flights, accommodation, travel insurance, travel packages to charter buses and VIP transfers."

More news about bus transportation in Croatia can be found in the Travel section.

Autotrolej, the company which manages commuter buses in Rijeka, the third largest town in Croatia, has announced that it is unable to find enough bus drivers for all of its bus lines. Therefore, it changed the timetable and reduced the number of departures on the urban lines in January, and today, on Monday, it has also reduced the number of suburban services, reports Poslovni.hr on February 11, 2019.

Certain services now have fewer departures, some bus lines have been merged, while some services will start later in the morning and end earlier in the evening. Still, on the most used urban and suburban services, at the time of the day when most people are leaving or returning from work or school, the number of departures will remain the same.

Autotrolej explained that, due to an insufficient number of drivers on the labour market, it could not hire enough professional drivers and is therefore forced to change the timetable temporarily. The company pointed out that Autotrolej now has the smallest number of drivers in the last five years and that it employs 313 bus drivers, which is 29 drivers fewer than in early 2018. There is a significant shortage of professional drivers in Croatia, and in the whole of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, there is not a single unemployed driver with a D category licence, which is needed to operate buses.

Therefore, Autotrolej has published vacancy announcements in the offices of the Croatian Employment Service outside of the county as well, offering the future drivers accommodation in Rijeka.

Also, Autotrolej has initiated and funded the training of 12 unemployed C category drivers to acquire D category licences. The company has even reemployed 12 retirees.

Autotrolej operates bus lines in the towns of Rijeka, Bakar, Kastav, Kraljevica and Opatija, and in the areas of Čavle, Jelenje, Klana, Kostrena, Viškovo, Matulji and Lovran. The company is majority owned by the Town of Rijeka.

The problems which Autotrolej and many other companies in Croatia have with finding employees are mostly a consequence of the major emigration wave which has hit Croatia in recent years, especially after joining the European Union in 2013.

Translated from Poslovni.hr.

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