Lánsk
He is the stationmaster and an incredibly hot-tempered man. He often vents his anger and frustrations by screaming into a heat vent. He is also very controlling. Though he is in the ranks as a Nazi conformist, secretly he opposes some Nazi rule, such as the takeover in Poland.
Milo Hrma
The main protagonist of the movie, he is a young man learning how to become a train dispatcher. However, he is a very insecure and conflicted individual who seeks to be a proper man. He feels emasculated and believes that he needs to take part in impressive actions in order to become confident with women. This draws him into a ploy to bomb a Nazi ammunition train, as proof of his manhood.
Ladislav Hubika
He is Milo's friend and idol. He embodies everything that Milo hopes to be, and encompasses all the traits a man would, in Milo's perspective. He is a nonconformist who is an advocate for the ploy to blow up the Nazi train. He is confident in his actions and truly believes in the cause, and is not doing it to prove himself, unlike Milo.