Croatia constructing Zagreb-Rijeka Adriatic express line

New, ultramodern rail links in Croatia will make both passenger and freight transport more attractive whilst at the same time providing a boost to the economy.

Completely new Zagreb-Rijeka line

The lynchpin will be the planned railway line on the outdated route between the capital Zagreb and Rijeka, Croatia's largest port, on the Northern Adriatic coast. The project is part of an extensive modernization of Pan-European railway corridor 5b, which leads through Croatian territory. The European Union will co-finance this infrastructure project. Renovation work will start at Botovo railway junction on the border between Croatia and Hungary, and be continued all the way to Rijeka. To begin with, the existing line from Botovo via Zagreb to Karlovac will be brought up to date, and a completely new railway line will be constructed from Karlovac to Rijeka.

Total cost of two billion euros

The total cost of this project is estimated to be around two billion euros. The Croatian budget has earmarked some 50 million euros for this purpose in 2007 in a move intended to ensure a rapid start to construction work.

Two hours off journey time

Tihomir Plesa of the Croatian Transport Institute explained the background of this ambitious project in an interview with wieninternational. According to Plesa, the Zagreb-Rijeka rail link was built under the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and commissioned in the year 1873. Today it is outdated, and trains therefore have to travel rather slowly through the Gorski Kotar mountains. The latest plans foresee an entirely new route that will bypass the Gorski Kotar mountain range to the South, reducing the length of the line between Zagreb and Rijeka from 228 km to 165 km, according to Tihomir Plesa. This will have the enormous advantage of cutting the journey time by at least 2 hours, from the present slow 3.5 hour journey to a fast 1.5 hour one.

New high-speed trains

In the future passenger trains will be able to travel at speeds of up to 200 km/h on the new line, explained traffic expert Plesa. Goods trains will be run at speeds of up to 120 km/h. The new routing of the railway line to the South of the Gorski Kotar mountains will necessitate the construction of a total of 42.5 km of tunnels and 12.2 km of bridges, according to Plesa.

Boost to rail transport

With a transport capacity of around 5 million tonnes, the outdated railway link between Zagreb and Rijeka is now no longer capable of handling the growing demand for goods transport via the port of Rijeka. The port handled some 15 million tonnes of freight in the year 2006, and the trend is still rising. The harbour is booming, and is planning its own major investments so as to ensure that it retains its leading position in the Northern Adriatic. The goal is above all to expand goods traffic on a modernized railway system to 12 million tonnes initially and later to 45 million tonnes a year.

More attractive passenger services

Passenger services between Zagreb and Rijeka are currently not operated to capacity, and are considered rather unattractive by travellers. The main reason: the journey is about 1.5 hours shorter by car.

First trains in 2012

According to the Croatian Government's official plans, the first trains are scheduled to run on the new route as early as the end of 2012. However, traffic expert Tihomir Plesa considers a time frame between 2015 and 2020 to be more realistic.

Upswing for rail traffic between Vienna and Rijeka

From Vienna's point of view, the modernization plans for Croatian railways will have a twofold benefit. On the one hand, goods transport from the Danube region will become significantly more attractive than it used to be, and goods will be delivered to Rijeka harbour centre with less environmental impact for distribution from there by sea. On the other, the appeal of rail travel will increase compared to the car for holidaymakers travelling to Croatia from the greater Vienna area. This in turn will reduce the chronic traffic jams on roads to the Adriatic.


Further information: Balkans-Vienna Railway Improvement A Top Priority for European Integration

Kontakt:

General representative office of Croatian Railways Operngasse 5 A-1010 Vienna Croatian Railways

 

 

Pan-European corridors:

Three Pan-European corridors run through Croatia, forming the core of Croatia's railway infrastructure: The X corridor links Western Europe with Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey. The Croatian section runs between S. Marof, Novska, Vinkovci and Tovarnik over a total distance of 316.4 km. The V corridor links Italy via Slovenia and Hungary with Ukraine. The Vb branch line provides a link between Rijeka and Zagreb to Budapest. Croatian section: Botovo - Zagreb - Karlovac - Rijeka, distance: 328.7 km. The Vc branch line runs from the port of Ploce via Sarajevo and Osijek to Budapest. Croatian section: Beli Manstir - S. Samac and Metkovic - Ploce, distance: 129.6 km.