An enormous individual project for Croatian Railways is about to kick off, backed with 2.3 billion kuna and considerable help from European Union funds.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 10th of August, 2020, HZ Infrastructure is starting the reconstruction of the existing track and the construction of the second track of the railway from Hrvatski Leskovac to Karlovac, and the estimated value of works on this project is the largest of all individual works undertaken by Croatian Railways so far, amounting to 2.3 billion kuna without VAT, as was reported by Vecernji list on Monday.
According to HZ Infrastructure, the tender for this line will be announced in September, and the tender documentation is currently being reviewed by the Central Agency for Financing and Contracting of EU Programmes and Projects (CFCA), because this project is also co-financed in the amount of 85 percent by European Union funds. The Hrvatski Leskovac section is part of the Rijeka – Hungarian border railway, and the conversion of a single-track line into a two-track line from Zagreb to the border has already begun. Works are already being carried out on the Dugo Selo – Krizevci section, and the contractor for the Krizevci – state border section has already been put into operation.
With the realisation of the Hrvatski Leskovac – Karlovac project, the works on the transformation of this Croatian railway into a modern two-track railway from Zagreb to Rijeka will start.
The Rijeka – Zagreb – Budapest railway is part of the Mediterranean TEN-T corridor. The realisation of this project, as well as other sections on which works are being performed and on which they are planned, will increase the competitiveness of the Port of Rijeka by improving its transport connections with the markets across Central Europe, the aforementioned publication writes. With the reconstruction of the existing track and construction of the second track on the section Hrvatski Leskovac – Karlovac in the length of 44.02 kilometres, the section will be able to boast a maximum speed of 160 km/h, except in the area of Mavracic, Jastrebarsko and Karlovac, where it will be 120 and 140 km/h due to the space constraints. The current single-track electrified railway will also become double-track.
As for other sections on the Rijeka – state border line, ie the lowland railway project, HZ Infrastructure says that the main project for the Skrljevo – Rijeka – Jurdani section is underway and that they plan to apply for European Union funds in the second half of next year for that project. For the Karlovac – Ostarije section, which is 40 kilometres long, a tender for the preparation of the study documentation is in progress. The preparation of the study documentation for the Ostarije – Skrljevo section is also currently in progress.
Croatia also expects co-financing from EU funds for the remaining Rijeka-state border line section, and according to the announcements of the Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butkovic, the entire project could be completed by 2027.
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