A railway experience

Travelling from Brno always throws something at me — a cracked rail, a locomotive breakdown, a snow emergency, summer heat, a delayed train, or just sitting in a field waiting for… (fill in the blank, we waited about 30 minutes).

Today's adventure added something new to the list: pulling onto an occupied track and then reversing back out. Due to track reconstruction between Hranice na Moravě and Hustopeče, there's only a single track in service. Train Os3205 normally waits past Hranice na Moravě station until Os3206 passes. Today we didn't wait — we were also running late — so it didn't surprise me that we didn't stop and kept going. What was more of a surprise was when we stopped after a few dozen metres. The train went quiet, the driver walked through the carriage, and a moment later we were reversing back towards the station. Soon after, Os3206 came through. The moment we stopped and then reversed back, I almost found it funny… but when I picture sitting in a train that has a head-on collision with another one, it sends a chill down my spine.