National passenger rail carrier ZSSK is currently facing a shortage in train drivers, which has led to the cancellation of some trains. The shortage was exacerbated by the holiday season and the novel coronavirus pandemic. The carrier is dealing with the situation, however. Due to the temporary shortage, some trains, especially on the Senec-Bratislava-Petrzalka, Senec-Galanta, Nove Zamky-Bratislava, Malacky-Bratislava and Bratislava-Trnava routes, have been cancelled. Between August 13-17, i.e. over a period of five days, a total of 23 trains were completely or partially cancelled for this reason. According to the schedule, ZSSK operates 1,538 trains per day.
State-run company spokesperson Tomas Kovac pointed out that the passenger rail carrier has had a long-term shortage of train drivers. The situation was made worse by the pandemic, as training was suspended for a long time. "Up to 90 candidates for this profession couldn't complete the train driver course in 2020. Approximately the same number of train drivers need to be replaced each year due to retirement or for other reasons," said the spokesman. A shortage of train drivers is a long-term problem, with ZSSK lacking 100-135 of them. The biggest shortages at the moment are in Bratislava, Nove Zamky (Nitra region) and Zilina.
