May the 28th, 2025 – A massive job worth 100 million euros will see ultra-modern trains arrive in Croatia. The domestic company Končar has an enormous task on its hands.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Hrvatske Željeznice (Croatian Railways) is set to purchase five electro-diesel trains for long-distance traffic that have never been seen before in Croatia or even the wider region. This 100 million euro job will see ultra-modern trains arrive in Croatia, with some of them likely running through Podravina and Prigorje.
The well known domestic company Končar has just been awarded a contract worth over 100 million euros for the production of ten of these new trains. They should significantly speed up and simplify travel on the route from Zagreb, via Križevci, to Varaždin or Čakovec, as well as to Osijek. These ultra-modern trains set to hit the tracks in Croatia would use electricity along electrified lines and diesel along non-electrified ones, as reported by local portal Podravski.hr.
Looking at potential examples of this, one of these trains running from Zagreb to Koprivnica would use the electrified network, while the one from Koprivnica to Osijek, Varaždin or Čakovec and finally to Kotoriba, would use diesel.
These ultra-modern trains in Croatia should also become a new direct connection in the Croatian Railways timetable that would connect Zagreb with Međimurje. This would be done in a far faster way than now, via Križevci and Koprivnica. It would no longer be necessary to change trains or anything of the sort in Koprivnica, which is certainly an advantage. The trains should boast 150 seats that should be adapted to longer journeys.
These trains will therefore not only be modern and something unique in Croatia and the wider region, but also be somewhat wider and more comfortable. It seems that they will also have a catering offer. These are low-floor trains, and such compositions for long-distance transport don’t currently exist in Croatia. This is primarily because the existing Končar trains are designed for regional journeys. Their maximum speed would be 160 kilometres per hour, and they could develop that speed on the journey from Zagreb to Koprivnica.
In addition to all of the above, HŽ Infrastruktura (Infrastructure) is either currently working on or has immediate plans to renovate the aforementioned lines. Končar will also produce five battery-powered trains. That means that they will use batteries on non-electrified lines, while they will be powered from the grid along electrified lines using pantographs. One of these ultra-modern new trains set to operate in Croatia will certainly run along the Varaždin, Ludbreg, Koprivnica, Zagreb route.
