The Railway Transport of Montenegro (ŽPCG) will investigate the possible responsibility of employees due to the lack of heating in the sleeping cars on the line from Belgrade a few days ago.
This follows from the response they provided to “Vijesti”. They previously shifted the responsibility to a transport company from a neighboring country, the company Srbijavoz, which Srbijavoz denied.
In response to subsequent questions from "Vijesti" regarding these allegations, the ŽPCG said that they were, however, investigating what happened:
"ŽPCG is undertaking all activities and measures within its jurisdiction and in accordance with applicable railway regulations, and we ask for your patience regarding additional comments regarding the situation related to the heating of passenger cars," they stated shortly two days ago, responding to questions from the editorial team.
"Vijesti" was recently contacted by a passenger who traveled by train between Belgrade and Bar in a sleeping car on the night of January 8-9. She stated that the trip was not pleasant because, as she said, there was no heating on the train despite the low temperatures. She also provided photo and video material, showing traces of snow and ice on the windows.
"Vijesti" sent questions to the Railway Transport of Montenegro on the same day, but they did not respond, but instead submitted a response the next day stating that the defective passenger car, without a proper heating system, was put into service by the Srbijavoz company.
At that time, they also said that this company is responsible for the safety of passenger cars when the starting point is Belgrade, and that "ŽPCG has no authority to exclude cars from traffic while they are on the territory of Serbia."
"In accordance with applicable international railway agreements and regulations, the responsibility for the technical correctness and basic maintenance of passenger cars lies with its owner, while control and exploitation in traffic are carried out according to the rules of the country on whose territory the car is in traffic," they stated earlier, adding that as long as the passenger cars are on the territory of Serbia, the authority over their inclusion or exclusion from traffic lies exclusively with the railway authorities of that country, and that only upon the arrival of the train at the destination station in Bar, the competent authorities of Montenegro can take measures in accordance with domestic regulations.
Srbijavoz then responded to these claims:
"Upon the arrival of train number 432 Bar-Zemun at the Zemun railway station on January 8, 2026, a regular inspection of the train composition was carried out. On that occasion, due to a malfunction, Bc car number 50 62 50-27 301-4, owned by ŽPCG, was removed from service. At the same time, sleeping cars number 50 62 72-10 508-7 and 50 62 72-10 506-1, also owned by ŽPCG, were assessed as technically sound and included in train number 433 on the same day," they stated in their response to "Vijesti".
They added that, immediately before the departure of train number 433 from Zemun station, an additional inspection of the train was carried out, and that no irregularities were observed at that time, nor did the sleeping car attendant, an employee of ŽPCG, report any problems with the heating system.
"The sleeping cars in question have their own diesel heating system, the inclusion and use of which is the obligation and responsibility of the car attendants, who are employed by ŽPCG. Also, during the train's stay at the Zemun station, as well as during the journey itself, the sleeping car attendants did not report any irregularities related to the heating. In accordance with the applicable procedures, if there is a problem with the heating, the car attendant's obligation is to offer passengers who complain to move to cars in which the heating is correct, which was not done in this specific case," they state.
They also added that any possible heating problem was not reported to the competent inspection service, nor to the Bijelo Polje border station:
"Although this is also the obligation of the train attendant in the event of irregularities," they said, adding that based on everything, in this specific case, one cannot speak of the responsibility of Srbijavoz employees.
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