'Slovakia' Party Launches Petition for Preservation of IC Trains

Bratislava, October 16 (TASR) - The opposition 'Slovakia' party has launched a petition for the preservation of InterCity (IC) trains, party spokesman Matus Bystriansky said on Wednesday, adding that IC trains are the fastest connection between Kosice and Bratislava. The petition calls on Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) and Transport Minister Jozef Raz (a Smer-SD nominee) to address the situation immediately. "In the petition, we call on the premier and the transport minister to address the situation immediately and not to take away IC trains from the people. It is arrogant of the premier and ministers, when they raise their salaries by €5,000 a month, but they're raising people's taxes and fees, and now, on top of that, they're lowering the standard of travel by taking away their favourite trains. At the same time, we ask MPs to show solidarity with the people and scrap the benefit of free travel on trains," said MP Michal Sipos ('Slovakia'). Earlier in the day, PS lambasted the extension of the duration of the shortest train connection between Bratislava and Kosice by almost an hour and called on Transport Minister Jozef Raz Jr. (Smer-SD) to rescind the cancellation of IC trains. PS caucus chair Martin Dubeci even announced that the party will launch a petition in the foreseeable future to preserve these trains. National passenger rail carrier ZSSK explained that the aim is to increase the number of trains not only on the Bratislava-Zilina-Kosice route and to offer passengers more connections and greater flexibility in planning their journeys. "The increase in the number of trains will result in an adjustment of the times of our connections to ensure the efficient inclusion of new lines, while the comfort and quality of travel will be maintained," said ZSSK spokesman Dominik Drevicky. The Transport Ministry stated that the scrapping of IC trains will go hand-in-hand with the introduction of express trains that will serve their routes at one-hour frequency. "This means that whereas today a train goes between the west and east once every two hours, now it will be every hour. Hence, passengers will get more trains and they won't be so overcrowded as they are today," claimed ministry spokesperson Petra Polacikova, pointing out that unlike IC trains, express trains make stops at more stations, so this change will be more beneficial to a larger group of passengers. am/mcs