Two passengers boarded the train in Kysucie, but instead of going to Žilina, they found themselves in an unpleasant situation. The story, which the unfortunate woman shared on the well-known Facebook page Do not feed us with garbage, immediately caught the attention of the public.
The couple, who travel by train only on rare occasions, wanted to buy tickets at the station, but they only found the ticket office closed. They therefore decided to board with the idea that they would honestly resolve the situation with the staff. “We had payment cards and cash with us and were ready to pay for the trip properly,” said the author of the status.
According to her, an unpleasant surprise came instead of the usual ticket sale. “The tour guide refused to sell us a ticket and immediately started dealing with a fine of 40 euros,” she added, saying that they tried to explain the situation to her and suggested that they immediately download the app and buy a ticket. “The whole situation would only take a few minutes. Nevertheless, we were met with absolute reluctance and were expelled from the train.” shocked the page’s fans.
However, in addition to the disappointment of the trip, the couple speaks of a deep sense of injustice and humiliation. The author of the status cannot say what affected the attitude of the staff. “But I can’t deny that we had a very uncomfortable feeling also because my friend has a darker skin. Maybe it was just an insensitive attitude, maybe it was prejudice. Whatever the reason, the result was that two people ready to pay for the trip were left standing on the platform.” she emphasized.
At the same time, she asked a rhetorical question about how an elderly person without a smartphone would fare in such a situation, who simply does not have the opportunity to buy a ticket other than at the station. “As a consumer, I expect that if I want to buy a service and pay for it, the carrier will allow me to do so. Even more so when ticket sales at the station are not available. However, instead of helping, we were met with reluctance, arrogance and an attitude that left us with a sense of injustice“, she added at the end.
The Slovak Railway Company (ZSSK) took a clear position on the incident. “The passenger must have a valid ticket before boarding the train. This rule applies to all passengers without distinction. It is similar to a city bus. The inspector does not check whether you want to buy a ticket, but whether you already have one. You first secure a ticket and only then use the service,” ZSSK responded in the comments.
At the same time, the company explained what mistake the passengers made in this particular case. “It was a train of the Self-Service Dispatch System (SVS), where tickets are not sold on the train. The person in the ZSSK uniform was not a train conductor, but a transport inspector, whose task is to check travel documents and compliance with transport conditions,” she explained.
According to railway workers, the argument about senior citizens is also not appropriate. “Passengers entitled to a 100% discount on regional trains travel on the basis of a valid ZSSK card and do not need to secure a ticket. ZSSK treats all passengers equally. The transport conditions apply to everyone without distinction, and we check compliance with them in the same way for all passengers“, the opinion states.
The ZSSK reminds that nowadays there are several ways to secure a travel document, even without a functioning ticket office at the station. The ticket can be purchased via their website, the IDeme app by train, an SMS ticket or the FAIRTIQ app. The SMS ticket works even without the Internet and on a regular push-button phone.
