Commuters travelling from the town of Senec, just east of Bratislava, faced repeated delays last week, with local trains running up to half an hour late, according to SME. The worst disruption came on Monday, 22 September, when services were already delayed before leaving Senec. Some trains were also diverted to Bratislava - Nové Mesto station instead of the city’s main terminal.
Slovakia’s state rail infrastructure company, Železnice Slovenskej republiky (ŽSR), said a faulty power cable had knocked out parts of the signalling system between Senec and the nearby town of Bernolákovo. With warning lights and barriers at level crossings disabled, trains were forced to slow to a crawl through the section. International and express services were given priority, leaving local commuter trains bearing the brunt of the disruption.
The problem has since been fixed, ŽSR said, though the episode highlighted a wider issue: almost 35 percent of all train delays in Slovakia are caused by track failures or engineering works, according to the state train operator, ZSSK.
Compounding the trouble, major track works are under way at Bratislava’s main station, where points (switches) are being replaced. This has forced some commuter services from Senec to terminate early, at Nové Mesto station, and caused knock-on delays as late-arriving trains disrupt timetables.
Rail expert Jiří Kubáček warned that without a special timetable and extra backup trains, delays would continue to ripple through the network. He also criticised the lack of timely communication with passengers: “The willingness of the operator to tolerate such conditions says a lot about its empathy for travellers – and it is not very high,” he said.
Safety concerns remain too. Bratislava’s mayor for the Jarovce district has long complained about unreliable barriers at a busy level crossing into the city’s Petržalka neighbourhood, which residents say sometimes stay raised even as trains pass. ŽSR insists such cases are rare and that trains are required to slow down and sound their horns when barriers malfunction.
But memories are fresh of a 2023 accident near Nové Zámky in southern Slovakia, where a failed level-crossing barrier led to a collision between a bus and an international train, killing seven people and injuring five more.
