The private railway company RegioJet cancelled one line for Wednesday, December 17: the IC 401 Bratislava – Košice train leaving at 05:50 from the capital, on its whole route.
RegioJet informed on its website that the train was cancelled due to a software failure on the Vectron engine, but that this has been repaired in cooperation with the Siemens company. Passengers on IC 401 will be compensated by RegioJet with repayment of fares, plus €20 for the complications ensuing from the situation. This is the first time in three years of operating trains that Regiojet was forced to cancel a line, the company wrote in a statement quoted by the Hospodárske noviny daily.
The return train, IC 402 Košice – Bratislava leaving at 11:17 has been replaced by buses on the route Košice – Kysak – Liptovský Mikuláš; and from there, a train will continue on. The expected delay is 30 to 60 minutes, according to RegioJet.
Tickets can be cancelled by passengers 15 minutes before the train leaves, without any fee. In case of passengers who own a credit-ticket system, they can use the scrapped fare for another line, the SITA newswire quoted the RegioJet website.
On December 18, the operation is expected to get back to normal.
This incident occurred just a few days after the launch of operation on December 14, which means a competition for the state-owned ZSSk railway company that operates the trains on the same route. ZSSK is satisfied with the service on its express InterCity (IC) trains on Sunday, December 14, according to SITA.
Communications Director of ZSSK Jana Morháčová informed on December 16. She did not say how many passengers used their IC trains on the first day of direct competition with the private Czech carrier RegioJet on the main national railway line in Slovakia between Bratislava and Košice.
"The busiest were afternoon trains from eastern Slovakia to Bratislava. Selected IC trains of ZSSK have a higher seating capacity than trains of the private carrier," said Morháčová, as quoted by SITA. On December 14, when the new timetable on railways came into effect, ZSSK sent out six IC trains.
RegioJet reported already on December 15 that on its trains between Bratislava and Košice on the first day of direct competition with the state-owned carrier, it transported 2,290 passengers. It did not report the overall capacity use on its trains, but according to estimates it was about 70 percent. The private carrier claimed a clear victory for the first day. RegioJet sent out six trains on that day.