When someone sets off on a journey, they are usually told - let them know when you leave and arrive. However, if they travel by train from Bar to Podgorica, or vice versa, their companions will often advise them something else - let them know if you don't leave.
This linguistic formulation came about after decades of unusual experiences, delays, transfers, alternative buses, unexpected trains...
It often happened that the train did not leave on time, or did not leave at all, so passengers called their loved ones to come pick them up.
This was told to "Vijesti" by everyday commuters who start their day on the train departing from Bar to Podgorica, where they work.
The newspaper's journalist talked to them, traveled with them, and also waited for them last Wednesday, when the train that was supposed to leave for Bar at 4:28 p.m. was delayed by a little over an hour.
"It will be 20 minutes late," said the worker at the ticket counter in Podgorica to everyone who requested one to Bar, Sutomore, or the intermediate stops.
However, her claims turned out to be incorrect, as the train left at 5:21 p.m.
At the Podgorica train station, impatient passengers were formulating various theories - the people of Zeća have blocked the tracks again, the train has broken down, they will have to wait for the next one, or take the bus, which is more than two euros more expensive...
The curious passengers who finally set off for Bar asked the conductor for accurate information about the long delay. He explained to them that no locomotives were in operation at the station, so they were forced to wait for one to arrive from Bar. An hour - exactly how long the ride takes, or should take.
Workers at the station offered those waiting to board the train, as the carriages were there, but some refused, because of what they said was the intense smell of urine. Others were more bothered by the cold than the unpleasant smell, so they accepted the offer.
"This is standard," one of the passengers in her thirties told "Vijesti" and said that she has been traveling by train to Podgorica for a decade, to college and work.
Even hell won't be hard for him to fall into.
There are countless situations in which the train was delayed by half an hour, an hour, or even more, and she says she has long since stopped counting them. That's why she sets out on a journey "with weapons" - headphones, a book, a full battery on her phone and laptop - because she is "ready for anything."
"We've had to wait at the station, on the train, for trains to cross for half an hour or more, get stuck in tunnels, get off the train at night or during the day on some part of the track, and buses come to pick us up. Simply put, anyone who has had experience with railway transport will find it hard to handle even hell."
She emphasized that she "doesn't know whether these situations are worse in summer or winter," because in the first scenario, people "boil from the heat," and in the second, they freeze at unconditioned stations.
But, he admits, in winter there is at least good heating on the train, while in summer there is no air conditioning, apart from the only "new" train that "almost never breaks down".
And another passenger JP (29) agreed with her and said that she "signs everything said", but added a new concern, which she has had for the last few years - she does not feel safe at the station and on the train, there are more and more "suspicious men and strangers".
He also shared his experience with Montenegrin trains. D. Đ. who found himself on that train, saying that, considering that he travels every day, he has had to call his parents or friends to "come and pick him up" dozens of times, because the train is not due for at least half an hour, which posed a risk for him of being late for work.
When leaving for the train, they usually suggest that he contact them if he doesn't leave at the scheduled time.
Passenger MP (27) said that the thing that frustrates her the most is having to mentally prepare for a train journey, knowing that there will be complications. What bothers her the most, she says, is that even when the train arrives on time, she cannot "get off it normally", but rather at the Šušanj station she often has to get off over the canal and the rocks from the tracks, because the concrete station only covers the first two exits.
"To be fair, the conductors often suggest that we move to the first two cars, but that hasn't been the case for years, and it happens now. When you're tired, you come home from work, you've been driving for over an hour, you forget whether you're in the first or third car."
Trapped in the Word
Passengers also commented among themselves on an unusual situation that occurred this January - some of the passengers traveling by train from Bar to Bijelo Polje were left behind in Podgorica because the carriage they were in was not attached.
A group of people who traveled to Bar last week said they had never experienced anything so bizarre, but one of them said she was trapped in the Sozina tunnel for more than an hour in October, without information or mobile signal.
"It was really horrible. We were all terrified. It was important that we paid for our tickets properly. The worst thing was that we couldn't get out, because we were literally in a tunnel. It had happened before that the train would stop and couldn't continue, but at least we were in Golubovci, Virpazar... and someone would come and pick us up. That time, neither there nor there. People were panicking, arguing. It was just horrible," JP recalled "by far the worst experience" she had on the train.
The Railway Transport of Montenegro said at the time that they were "currently using older locomotives" and that "these were minor faults that did not endanger the safety of passengers."
Passengers are also part of the problem
JP's dissatisfaction is also compounded by something that is not within the jurisdiction of the Railway Transport, namely passengers. As she claims, she has problems almost every day with some of the people she shares a compartment with, sits with or simply waits at the station. From those who convince her to buy a life insurance policy, men who aggressively court her and offer her jobs, through people in an intoxicated state and those who offer to buy her drugs, to parents who ask her to look after their child while they go to light a cigarette.
He says he talks about it with his friends and family every day, and that they are always surprised when he doesn't bring home some shocking or unusual situation from the train.
MP stated that she met a large number of interesting people of all ages, professions and interests on the train. When she gets on the train, she says that she tries to escape from suspicious people, or pretends to be asleep. However, waiting at the station is a problem for her.
"I mostly wait in Šušanj, where there is absolutely no light, and the situation at the main station is not much better. In the settlement (Šušanj), the situation has become alarming, the station serves as a gathering place for young guys, sometimes older men sleep there... Well, I've seen enough of it."
That day, three female and one male passengers were very eager to share the many events they had seen or experienced over the years, noting that they always feel less alone when they hear that someone else is going through the same thing.
They also agreed that in the future, if they met at the station or on the train, they would sit together to prevent potential inconvenience.
Although the trains clearly display an email address to which citizens can send comments and complaints, none of the people interviewed by "Vijesti" did so, because, as they stated, they think it will not bear fruit and that it is futile, because, as they say, the authorities are aware of the situation if they have only taken a ride once.
The ramp is up, and the train is moving.
Difficult driving conditions, unpredictable circumstances and unusual situations with rail transport are also worrying those who are not on the train itself - the residents of Šušanj and Ilin, the Bar settlements through which the train passes. "Vijesti" has been repeatedly complained in the past three weeks that this is happening even when the ramp is not lowered.
They were informed, as they recounted, that it was a problem with "old machinery," and at the train station in Bar, they said, they were advised to always report it when it happened, so that they could send a worker.
Locals claim that someone almost always comes to inspect the situation and repair the ramp, but that there is no long-term solution.
"Not every day, but it often happens that the ramp doesn't work. Sometimes it works without problems for a long period, but sometimes the ramp doesn't work for several days, so they often alert us or ask what's going on, workers come to ask how long the situation has been like this," a Šušanjanin who lives right next to the railway crossing told the newspaper.
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