Railway union urges government to increase funding for infrastructure

NEWS 04.02.202112:53 0 komentara
Goran Kovacic/PIXSELL

The Croatian Railwaymen Trade Union on Thursday sent an open letter to the government urging the Prime Minister and the competent ministers to halt the further deterioration of the situation in the Croatian railways and set aside funding for their maintenance.

The union says that two thirds of the railway network in the country have been adversely affected by the failure to conduct large-scale maintenance works, and the situation concerning the switches and railway stations is even worse.

While some sections of the railways enabled trains to travel at the speed of 100 km/h at the turn of the 20th century, today they are in such a state that trains can run at the speed of only 20 km/h, the union says.

It warns that negligence could cause accidents such was the 1974 Zagreb train disaster when an express train derailed before entering Zagreb Central Station killing 153 people.

The union believes that EU-funded projects would not be sufficient for large-scale maintenance works.

The railways are in a vicious circle of worsening performance. Cargo transport along poorly maintained railways is too expensive and clients turn to container transport by road, it says, urging the authorities to do something to prevent the national railways from going downhill.

The union points out the positive example of Slovenia’s model for organizing a rail maintenance company.

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