A new railway line is a major part of the proposed project.
Prefects of three northwestern counties – Matija Posavec from Međimurje County, Radimir Čačić from Varaždin County and Željko Kolar from Krapina-Zagorje County – have announced in Krapina that they are working on the “Northern Croatia” project. It would be similar to the government’s “Slavonia Project,” which amounts to roughly 2.5 billion euros and which the three prefects welcome because they believe that the state should indeed stimulate the development of Slavonia through the use of EU funds. However, they want the government to support other parts of the country as well, reports lokalni.hr on June 22, 2017.
“The government should, in co-operation with the three of us, prepare a project for the further development of the north of the country. We are constantly talking about how northern Croatia is well-developed, how our entrepreneurs and businessmen are good, but the average salary is lower than in areas which are less developed,” Kolar warned.
They talked about the Regional Waste Management Center Piškornica. In agreement with Koprivnica-Križevci County Prefect Darko Koren, they will also discuss the government’s decision to add Bjelovar-Bilogora and Virovitica-Podravina counties to areas using the waste management centre. Before the decision was made, no one from the government spoke with representatives of the counties which founded Piškornica.
The three prefects also supported the project of the Center for Excellence and Competences for Catering and Tourism in Zabok.
Prefect Čačić talked about a 500 million euro project to connect the north and Zagreb with a railway line, which should be included in the national transport strategy and funded by money from EU funds. The goal is to connect Zagreb, Krapina, Ivanec, Varaždin and Čakovec with a railway link which will enable people to be in Zagreb within 50 minutes. They have informed Prime Minister Plenković and Transport Minister Butković about their ideas.
“This is something that would completely change the possibilities for employment, development of education, health, culture… One small advantage is the fact that the Zabok-Zaprešić line is already in operation, which is part of the whole project. But, as far as Varaždin and Čakovec are concerned, we are completely isolated from this most modern and most powerful form of transportation”, said Čačić. The voyage by train from Čakovec and Varaždin to Zagreb, about a hundred kilometres away, now takes about three hours, as if it were the era of steam locomotives.
