After a collision near Križevci with 25 injured and a freight train running a red light near Rijeka, unions and experts warn of system failures, accelerated staff training, and unfinished modernization. The HŽ Cargo train driver has been suspended.
In less than 48 hours, the Croatian railway system was twice on the brink of disaster. First, a serious collision occurred near Križevci, injuring 25 people, and then a similar scenario was narrowly avoided near Rijeka, where a freight train ran a red light. In both cases, freight trains ignored red signals, and the HŽ Cargo train driver was urgently suspended.
These incidents have raised serious questions about rail safety despite historic investments measured in billions of euros. Over the past decade, more than two billion euros have been invested in Croatian railways, with a plan to invest an additional six billion by 2035. Projects currently underway are worth 1.7 billion euros, yet only a small portion of the total 1,300 kilometers of tracks is being renovated.
Mario Grbešić, president of the Train Traffic Workers' Union, explained how the system reacts in emergency situations. "Train traffic controllers have a signal-safety device on which they see the train's movement on the track in real time. They saw, I assume, immediately that the train was leaving the station unauthorized, meaning it was passing a red signal; they have the CDU number, so they call and request a voltage cutoff on that section, and that reaction happens within seconds," Grbešić said for N1 HR.
However, near Križevci, such intervention was not possible. "Unfortunately, near Križevci, the accident could not be prevented in the same way because the track where it happened is not electrified," he added. It is precisely electrification and modernization that lie behind the billions the government boasts about, while HŽ Infrastruktura highlights historic investments.
The unions strongly condemn the incidents but also point the finger at accelerated staff training. Nenad Mrgan, president of the Croatian Train Drivers' Union, highlighted the problematic training system. "It's three months of online schooling, four months of practical training for train drivers in Zagreb, which is the case for a colleague in Žabno where you have to know the tracks toward Vinkovci, Varaždin, Koprivnica, Bjelovar, Sisak - that's almost impossible to do, and then the person is sent out on the track," Mrgan stated.
He also emphasized that this does not absolve responsibility: "The fact is that he finds himself in an unfortunate situation, but that does not absolve either of them of responsibility - red is red."
Transport expert Željko Marušić believes the problem is deeper than individual responsibility and demands that responsibility be extended to the entire management chain. "Here, responsibility should be extended to the very top of Croatian Railways because it was only luck that prevented a tragedy, and that is unacceptable," Marušić said.
He added that in such situations, decisive action is needed: "When luck saves you, then the entire chain of responsibility should be expanded, and all those responsible should be suspended, and then we should see if they are fit to continue leading their positions."
Mladen Nikšić, a professor at the Department for Railway Transport at the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, offers a somewhat different perspective. "In Croatia, we have good safety standards. They may not be the most modern, but they are quality and reliable; they just need to be strictly adhered to," Nikšić said. He also reminded that the most modern systems are not a guarantee of safety: "For example, in the Czech Republic, Spain, and Germany, they have the most modern safety systems, yet railway accidents have occurred."
Nevertheless, he confirmed that modernization is planned: "According to my knowledge, the new investments in Croatia include the installation of the most modern safety systems."
While waiting for the results of official investigations into the black weekend on the tracks, passengers on the platforms have already resigned themselves to the fact that train delays are more the rule than the exception. As long as red signals mean risk rather than safety, investments in railways remain just empty words on paper.
