August the 1st, 2022 - Croatia isn't known for its high speed, uber efficient train network. In fact, it's quite the opposite, and it doesn't really seem as if anyone quite knows what to do about it. A Zagreb-Split train was recently delayed, one of many of late, by 134 minutes in total.

We've recently had stories about a train driver simply deciding not to turn up to work, leaving passengers waiting around for far longer than they should have, and one about an employee falling asleep on the job, causing issues for yet another train. Will it ever get better, you might ask?

As Morski writes, the Zagreb-Split train carrying passengers was due to arrive in the Dalmatian port city on Friday at 15:20, but instead, it arrived 134 minutes late. Croatian Railways (HZ), who have been having to do an awful lot of explaining lately, says that the problems started when the train's air conditioner malfunctioned at 16:10 at the train station in Karlovac.

''Given that the bus operator couldn't provide the three buses needed to transport the passengers sitting on train 523 within 60 minutes, a second unit was sent from Zagreb Central Station, which left Karlovac station 92 minutes late, and then arrived at the Split train station with a 134 minute delay,'' they stated from Croatian Railways.

The train which has ended up being faced with issues and delays is otherwise a recently introduced line that runs from Osijek to Split, and it is, it seems, very regularly late.

Croatian Railways will refund all passengers 50% of their purchased ticket price.

Croatian Railways apologised to the passengers on the Zagreb-Split train and told them that they are free to exercise their right to compensation for the delay.

In case the train is delayed from 60 to 119 minutes, compensation is paid in the amount of 25% of the original ticket price. And if, as is the situation in this case, the delay is longer than 120 minutes, compensation is paid in the amount of 50% of the ticket price, as reported by Index.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

My 23, 2022 - Croatian train travel has never been applauded for its efficiency, especially when one HŽ Zagreb-Pula train needs almost 23 hours to travel 267 kilometers. 

A screenshot from the official Croatian Railways (HŽ) website has recently been spread on social networks, showing just how long it will take HŽ passengers to travel from the central railway station in Zagreb to Pula, reports Index.hr.

The distance from the central railway station in Zagreb to Pula, according to Google Maps, is 267 kilometers.

Since HŽ does not have direct trains on the Zagreb-Pula route, the official HŽ Passenger Transport website offers several travel options - one with three transfers and one option with two transfers.

The shortest HŽ ride from Zagreb to Pula takes just under 9 hours

If you take Croatian Railways to get from Zagreb to Pula today, however, you will ride for at least 8 hours and 48 minutes. According to the schedule, the train departs at 1:12 pm and will arrive in Pula at 10 pm after two transfers. The price for one passenger in one direction is 73 kuna and 10 lipa.

The longest ride takes an incredible 22 hours and 43 minutes

However, if you decide to leave about an hour later, or at 2:22 pm, you will arrive in Pula only tomorrow after 22 hours and 43 minutes of traveling and three transfers.

The travel length, in other terms, is not much better: Only two options offer a travel length of fewer than 9 hours, and there are travel options that take 12 hours and 15 minutes, 19 hours and 45 minutes, 18 hours and 33 minutes, and 15 hours and 19 minutes.

Now, anyone choosing to drive this 267 km route can make it from Zagreb to Pula in just over 3 hours. Croatia Airlines even has non-stop and connecting flights from Zagreb to Pula that'll get you there even quicker (though at a much higher price).

Those of us in Croatia already know that Croatian Railways is unlikely anyone's go-to for traveling around Croatia, especially with so many bus options and the Bla Bla ride-sharing evolution. And if you need further proof of Croatian travel failures - just check out this two-day Slavonian train adventure traveling just 83 km away!

For more, check out our travel section.

ZAGREB, 19 Feb 2022 - The labour union of construction workerss (SGH) on Saturday condemned the fact that workers in two Turkish companies working on the reconstruction of the Križevci-Koprivnica railway had been laid off simply because they had contacted the union who informed them of their rights.

"Two Turkish companies engaged in the reconstruction of the Križevci-Koprivnica railway line, laid off a group of workers on Thursday simply because they had a brief meeting with the SGH who had informed the workers of their rights pertaining to the collective agreement in construction and providing them with leaflets during their lunch break," the union said in a press release.

The union added that workers received their notice via a text message without any explanation.

The Turkish companies Cengiz Insaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. and Ci-Ay Mühendislik, landed  contracts for the railway reconstruction by HŽ Infrastruktura railway management company for a price that is higher than the construction of Pelješac Bridge.

"This type of penalising workers because of their contact with the union is the vilest breach of union rights that are guaranteed by Croatian and international law," SGH said.

The union said that during the meeting with workers they were informed that some provisions of the collective agreement were being grossly violated because workers were working between 250 and 300 hours a month, meaning overtime in aggravating circumstances yet they were not additionally paid and that they were also not being paid for sick leave.

The union has called for an urgent response by the State Inspectorate but also the ministry of transport, and HŽ Infrastruktura as the investor.

It is free, accurate like a Swiss clock, and saves time to people who usually spend half an hour or more a day waiting for their trains. The mobile app in question is HŽPP Planer, thanks to which with just a few clicks on a mobile phone passengers can see the GPS position of the train they are waiting for, when the train will arrive and how much will the trip cost them. The app has more than 42,000 downloads on Google Play and was designed by a third-year student of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing Josip Šalković. Thanks to the success of his software, he has recently established cooperation with the Croatian Railways company, which promotes his app on its website, reports Večernji List on January 12, 2019.

“The main goal of the app is for no one to have to wait for the train for more than a few minutes because now they know where the train is at any moment. And we all know how much our trains like to abide by the timetables,” said Šalković laughingly. His GPS tracking system for trains is the first such system in Croatia.

How does it work? The HŽPP Planer app downloads the GPS data in real-time from the central data network of the Croatian Railways. Instead of showing a map with the exact position of the train, the app tells the passenger near what station the train is currently located and at what speed it is moving, calculating how much time the train will need to reach the passenger’s station.

“The HŽPP Planer app covers the whole national rail traffic. It does not matter whether a person is travelling from Zagreb to Dugo Selo or from Osijek to Rijeka or Split. The app will ‘find’ the train and tell them everything they are interested in,” Šalković pointed out.

The GSP system and the timetable overview are just some of the information given to users, since the application also notifies the users about construction works, navigates them during the trip, and tells them at which station they should leave the train. It explains where and how to change trains if needed and informs them about any inevitable delays. People who are particularly curious can enter the code of the train to check whether it is an older or a newer model and see the photos of its interior. The app calculates the ticket price in both directions, including discounts if the traveller is a student or a pensioner. In addition to searching within the app, timetables can be downloaded to your phone and viewed even when you are not online.

“This is especially useful to people who travel by train every day to work or university because their life depends on the timetables,” said Josip, who often travels from Zagreb, where he lives, to Karlovac, where he comes from. That is why he came up with the idea to develop the HžZPP Planer app in the first place.

More news on the Croatian Railways can be found in our Travel section.

Translated from Večernji List (reported by Hana Ivković).

Croatian Railways gets an unflattering rundown on social media by one of its deeply dissatisfied employees.

Construction of the first railroad to be built in Croatia in the last 50 years is reaching its final stage – there are only 100 metres of tracks left to finish. As it turns out, these mere 100 metres are proving to be the most problematic part of the whole project.