I'm on an experience-gathering mission. Most of the time things run fine, but in every system / on every railway things can go wrong and delays happen. And it's interesting to see how connections work too.  I will leave it to the knowledgable reader to contrast and compare to the UK way in such circumstances.

Zilina Station is being rebuilt. There are only half of the tracks in use at present, and access is via a single long subway which is crowded with people as train platforms are only announced a few minutes ahead - standard practise in Slovakia and when you see how narrow the platforms are, you'll understand why you really don't want people waiting on them. 

Our 07:44 departure was called a couple of minutes before it was due to leave and it left about 3 minutes late - because of the trek out to the platform, and the incredible crowds - it would appear that all the young people here have broken up from school and parties are being taken for school trips - days and summer camps - and the station and trains were crowded to the extent they added to delays.

A further couple of minutes were lost as we snaked our way east along the remaining operation line through the building site that's the station throat at the moment, and we arrived in Vrutky around 5 minutes late.  Oops - "short connection" according to the journey planner, but the onward train to Banska Bystrica was held, people who needed to do so made the connection, and it then left - around 3 minutes late.

A lovely ride to Banska Bystrica, but the beauty is another story.  We were due there at 09:25 and can't have been far off that though I did not note the time - I left the station for a cup of coffee and a cake and returned in good time for my next train - the 10:17 diesel service to Margecany.

Arriving back into the station at Banska Bystrica, now caffeined up, an electric train - the 10:15 to Bratislava which starts from there is waiting. The incoming diesel - due at 10:12 - pulls in perhaps 4 minutes late but the Bratislava train waits until passengers have transferred before leaving.  Meanwhile another electric train, this from Bratislava pulls in and people come across to the diesel train, a modern 2 carriage train, and we set off a handful of minutes late on the 3 hour 36 minute (scheduled) journey to Margecany.  It's a thinly served line - just two trains go the whole way on winter weekdays, boosted to four trains at weekends and in summer.

We toddle along - not part of this story - until we get to Cervena Skala high in the valley we have climbed and just before the watershed into the next valley.

Everyone else is getting off and I do know that some short workings terminate here but, no, the line to the next station is closed for engineering works and we are transferred to a bus.  As one of the last people to leave the train (I don't speak Slovak) the staff helped ensure I found the bus, and I got just about the last seat in amongst a typically teenage population in there with bags, cases and camping gear. And we set off.

Not a very long drive - to Telgart where the bus drove up the station approach and parked to allow up off near the platform.  No train waiting, but a couple of minutes later one arrived, passenger going the other way got off and transferred to the bus, and our gang joined the train.  I would estimate that we pulled out around 15 minutes behind schedule.

Many more stations, little and big, people off and on. I had chosen the opposite carriage to the school parties so I don't know where they left us, and a sparsely occupied carriage got busier as we headed down the next valley, more people getting on than off. We pulled into Margecany - scheduled 13:53 still a little behind schedule.  Ongoing passengers for the local train onward to Kosice transferred over (it may have been held a couple of minutes) and the local train to Strba called too a few minutes later, with the return train up the valley picking up its connecting passengers before it left - back on time, I think - certainly a planned connection that made.

I took the express back along the main line to Zilina (it was a loop I had done) and it left on time.  We were around 15 minutes late into Zilina - delay caused by some single line working past engineering works; we had to wait for a train coming the other way, and then a very slow approach to Zilina itself as the train snaked in over the few tracks currently in place.

So there you have it - for me as a passenger, it worked as I would have wanted it to.  All connections worked and there were no unplanned long waits.  Necessary track-work carried on without wholesale closure, bus help was provided where needed and the whole thing was a very pleasant experience.  And, no, I really wasn't worried about being 15 minutes or so late back into my digs.