ZAGREB, CROATIA – Nine days after the tragic accident in Rudine near Split in which six people were killed and 55 injured, train traffic from Zagreb to Split was re-established on Monday and the first train left Zagreb at 6:50 am. 

To prove that railway traffic is still safe, despite the tragic accident, members of the Croatian railways Holding Management also boarded the train to travel from Zagreb to Split. According to the schedule, they should reach Split by 12:20 pm. According to the head of Corporate Communications, Vlatka Skoric, so far, so good, and there are no problems at all.

Croatian Railways Officials and Employees Arrested

- We feel safe, as do the passengers. Members of the management board are on the train as well as six reporters who carried out a survey among the passengers and they all said they were not afraid. There is no problem – Vlatka Skoric spoke to us from the tilting train.

The train is carrying 96 passengers and four members of the Croatian Railways management.

Among them is the Croatian Railways CEO, Zoran Popovac. The director of the Croatian Railways’ Passenger Transportation department, Marijan Klaric, will board the train in Knin, a management member, Predrag Zekic will board the train in Perkovic, while they will be greeted in Split by the director of the Croatian Railways train traction department, Oliver Krilic.

But despite the fact that the passengers feel safe, the cause and accountability for the accident nine days ago still has to be determined. According to published information, the cause for the train derailment is most probably a retardant TG-300, which should not have been sprayed on the tracks, for which the manufacturers claimed at first that it cannot harm the train because it is easy to remove from the tracks.

Retardant on Tracks Did Not Have Certificate

On July 27, three days after the tragedy, the Universal Fire Shield company told the Vecernji list daily that the TG-300 retardant is completely safe for railway tracks, that is has a water basis, not an oil basis and that it does not contain bitumen. That very same day, however, the company published on its internet site a warning that the retardant should not be put on railway tracks.

Also, it turned out that the retardant did not have a certificate. The spokeswoman for the American chief organisation for fire protection (NFPA), Peg O’Brien, confirmed this to the Vecernji list, saying that the organisation does not issue certificates, as the producer claimed.

The same daily also published that nobody from Croatia contacted the Universal Fire Shield company since the accident. Vlatka Skoric did not want to comment on this, stressing that she could not speak about the investigation as it is still ongoing.

- The Croatian Railways Holding management has founded a commission for the investigation of the accident which has eight members from various fields. Until yesterday, when the second car was removed, they were on the field investigating and gathering information and will within the legal deadline, which is 40 days from the accident, submit their report to the Croatian Railways Holding management. This is our internal investigation and parallel to it, an investigating judge and police are also conducting investigations. Everybody is doing their job – she said.

I’m Not Guilty, Croatian Railways Got Govt Orders

A tilting train that was running from Zagreb to Split derailed on July 24 at around 12:10 pm in Rudine near the coastal city of Split. The removal of the train started after an on-site investigation was completed, after the clearing of the tracks and fixing of the available parts of the tracks on Saturday, August 1. Freight traffic was re-established on Sunday and passenger traffic on Monday.

Since there is no reserve train composition in Split, the passengers from this morning’s first tilting train which was to leave Split for Zagreb at 7:38 am and the second which was to leave Split at 10:45 am were transported by busses, while passengers of the third tilting train, which is scheduled to leave Split at 15:10 on Tuesday, will ride the train for the entire trip.

With regards to night trains, Croatian Railways Holding said passengers from Zagreb and Split would ride the entire trip without passengers having to be transferred to busses and sleeping cars will be in use again, as well as the service of transporting vehicles by train between Zagreb and Split.

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