Police have charged the driver of an express train with general endangerment through negligence over the train collision near Zliv in November 2025, in which 47 people were injured.
Police have charged the driver of an express train in connection with the train collision near Zliv in the České Budějovice area on 20 November 2025. The charge concerns the offence of general endangerment through negligence, which according to Seznam Zprávy carries up to eight years in prison. The police announced this on 13 October 2026.[1][2]
The suspicion
According to the South Bohemian police spokesperson Štěpánka Schwarzová, investigators accuse the man of failing to stop, while driving the express train from České Budějovice toward Plzeň, before a signal with a Stop indication and of entering the path of an oncoming train from Dívčice to České Budějovice. According to his testimony, he believed he could continue even though he had received an order to stop. Investigators questioned dozens of people and evaluated the secured evidence and expert opinions.[1][2]
The accident
The trains collided on 20 November 2025 at 6:16. Because of a fault between Zliv and Dívčice, traffic in the section ran on only one track. About fifty people were travelling on the trains, rescuers treated 47 people and South Bohemian hospitals admitted 35 patients. The locomotives of both trains and the tracks were damaged; the damage reached 82.5 million Czech crowns.[1][2]
Related articles: Zliv, České Budějovice
Chronology
- — Police charged a 33-year-old express train driver with negligent endangerment over last year's train collision near Zliv, in which 47 people were injured. Deník: České Budějovice / Jižní Čechy Seznam Zprávy
Sources
- Deník: České Budějovice / Jižní Čechy — 13 October 2026
- Seznam Zprávy — 13 October 2026