In recent days, citizens of Sarajevo have witnessed the return of old trams to the tracks. These trams had been withdrawn from service three months ago for maintenance checks. However, it appears that only the symptoms are being addressed, while the root causes, such as potential malfunctions and the lack of thorough analyses, remain unresolved.
This move came after an incident earlier this year, when a tram derailed near the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina and crashed into the tram stop.
In that accident, a student from Brčko, Erdoan Morankić, lost his life. Several people were injured, including Ela Jovanović, whose leg was amputated.
GRAS informed us that all public transport vehicles must follow a specific protocol before entering service and must be technically sound.
“In this regard, vehicles that were previously withdrawn as a precaution are undergoing additional detailed technical checks, cleaning, and testing, after which they are being gradually and successively returned to service,” they stated.
They further explained that the competent commission signs the minutes after conducting detailed analyses of each vehicle and verifying its soundness according to public transport needs.
As a reminder, before submitting his resignation, Nihad Uk, the Prime Minister of Sarajevo Canton, announced that all old trams would be withdrawn from service, stating:
“We will introduce urgent, independent audits of business processes, including vehicle dispatch protocols, and report the findings to the public. Old trams, even if technically sound, are being withdrawn from service. Additional safety analyses will be conducted, and no tram will return to service without the public release of the analysis and certification for those trams. No tram with those specific registration numbers will be dispatched until the public sees that report,” Uk emphasized.
He also stated that a new, forced administration for GRAS would be requested, along with the appointment of new management structures.
However, although GRAS Director Senad Mujagić submitted his resignation, it was not accepted by the Supervisory Board.
Although the trams were returned to service, the public still has not received the concrete findings of the announced analyses or detailed explanations regarding the exact cause of the issue for which the vehicles were previously withdrawn. This creates the impression that the focus is on returning the vehicles to service and normalizing transport operations, while key questions remain unanswered.
It is problematic that independent audits and the public release of findings were announced as a priority, yet we still have not seen them. We also asked the resigning cantonal Prime Minister about the promised analyses, but received no response. Such actions merely address the symptoms and paper over the cracks of the problem, while questions, analyses, and the investigation into the root cause remain unresolved.
