Croatian Railways Averts Second Crash in 30 Hours After Freight Train Runs Red Signal

Croatian Railways (HŽ) narrowly avoided another serious incident when a freight train passed a red signal on the Zagreb-Rijeka line. This near-miss occurred less than 30 hours after a previous collision between a passenger and a freight train injured 25 people near Škrinjari.

The latest event unfolded Sunday at 1:06 PM between the Škrljevo and Meja stations. The HŽ Cargo freight train failed to stop at a red signal at Škrljevo station, proceeding towards an oncoming passenger train from Zagreb. Fortunately, HŽ Infrastructure employees promptly detected the safety lapse and de-energized the overhead power lines. This action brought both trains to a safe distance from each other.

Rail traffic on the affected section was suspended while investigations took place. Approximately 45 passengers on the train to Rijeka were accommodated and transported by bus. This incident follows closely on the heels of the August 8th crash near Škrinjari, which involved a passenger train traveling from Gradec to Sveti Ivan Žabno and a freight train coming from the opposite direction. The new line, opened in December 2019, was highlighted as a point of concern following the initial accident.

This near-collision also echoes a serious incident near Lekenik in March 2025, where a freight train also disregarded a red signal, narrowly avoiding a collision with a passenger train carrying around 200 people. In that case, the freight train's driver indicated an inability to stop, prompting traffic controllers to activate a system shutdown of the power supply, preventing disaster. The freight train in the Lekenik incident was carrying 30 wagons filled with flammable liquid.

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The freight train had 30 wagons, each with about 40 tons of flammable liquid.