(Hrvatski dolje) Every year, thousands of people come from other European countries to Croatia's beautiful coast for holidays by train or use the train to visit their relatives and friends. But as of December this year, cross-border train travel to and from Croatia is about to get a whole lot more difficult: Croatian Railways has announced http://www.hznet.hr/medunarodni-prijevoz that it is to cut 44 out of 56 daily international services (update - now 32, see below), and even two of the remaining ones would run in summer only.

Rail is the most environmentally acceptable mode of long-distance transport, with relatively low pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. In Europe many people also consider it a pleasant and comfortable way to travel. It is therefore not surprising that the European Union – which Croatia is joining next year – has a transport policy stipulating that by 2050 most medium-distance passenger travel should be by rail. It is ironic that, at a time when Croatia is joining the EU, its rail policy is going in the other direction.

This makes rail travel drastically more inconvenient. It also makes ordinary people pay for mistakes that have been made by Croatian Railways and the Croatian government. For years the Croatian government has put many more resources into motorway construction than into investing in rail, and the result is that many people use cars on routes where they could go by train. Likewise Croatian Railways has for too long avoided making improvements in service and efficiency, and has failed to sufficiently advertise its services.

Join us in calling on Croatian Railways and the Croatian Government to reconsider their decision to cut cross-border rail services. And don't forget to add a comment: Do you come to Croatia by rail on holiday? Or have you been planning to? Do you regularly visit friends and relatives in neighbouring countries by train? Are you maybe a cyclist who likes to travel some of the route by rail and for whom buses are not a viable alternative?

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Svake godine tisuće ljudi iz ostalih europskih zemalja vlakom dolazi na odmor na prekrasnu hrvatsku obalu ili u posjetu rođacima i prijateljima. No, od prosinca ove godine prekogranična putovanja vlakom u Hrvatsku i iz nje postat će puno teža - Hrvatske željeznice najavile su http://www.hznet.hr/medunarodni-prijevoz ukidanje 44 od 56 (update - sada 32, vidjete dolje) dnevnih međunarodnih linija, a dvije od preostalih prometovat će samo ljeti.

Željeznica je, s relativno niskim zagađenjem i emisijom stakleničkih plinova, okolišno najprihvatljiviji način prijevoza na veće udaljenosti. Također, u Europi mnogi ljudi smatraju da je to ugodan i udoban način putovanja. Stoga ne čudi da je Europska unija – kojoj se Hrvatska pridružuje sljedeće godine - usvojila prometnu politiku koja propisuje da se do 2050. godine većina putničkog prometa na srednje udaljenosti treba odvijati željeznicom. Ironično je da, u vrijeme kada Hrvatska ulazi u EU, njezina željeznička politika ide u suprotnom smjeru.

Ove promjene drastično će otežati putovanje vlakom. To također znači da će građani ispaštati zbog grešaka koje su učinile uprave Hrvatskih željeznica i Vlada Republike Hrvatske. Godinama su hrvatske Vlade ulagale mnogo više sredstava u izgradnju autoceste nego željeznicu, a rezultat je nepotrebno korištenje automobila na relacijama kojima se može putovati vlakom. Isto tako, Hrvatske željeznice predugo su izbjegavale poboljšanja u uslugama i učinkovitosti te nisu dovoljno oglašavale svoje usluge.

Pridružite nam se u pozivu Hrvatskim željeznicama i Vladi RH da preispitaju svoju odluku o ukidanju međunarodnih željezničkih linija. Ne zaboravite dodati vlastiti komentar: Dolazite li vlakom na odmor u Hrvatsku? Planirate li činiti to u budućnosti? Posjećujete li rodbinu ili prijatelje u susjednim zemljama vlakom? Jeste li možda biciklist/ica koji/a voli putovati na nekim od navedenih linija i za koje autobusi nisu održiva alternativa?