A train owned by the Czech company Regiojet full of Czech tourists got stuck for 11 hours on Sunday night in Hungary, due to a malfunction in the train’s engine. The train departing from the Czech Republic was headed for Split, Croatia. Many of its passengers were Czech families looking forward to a pleasant vacation by the sea. Instead they were met with 11 hours of misinformation, chaos and worry. Some passengers even resorted to contacting the owner of the company via email. They have criticized the supposed lack of preparation by the company for malfunctions on their trains. For a private company trying to outclass the Czech national rail company, an incident like this could be very devastating. On Monday, the spokesperson of the company, Aleš Ondrůj, tried to minimize the damages done to their image. He did so by explaining that a malfunction on a train is very hard to solve during the night, especially in a foreign country. He also proclaimed that a new train has been sent to finish the journey, and all passengers can expect half of the fare to be returned to them as compensation.
