ZAGREB, July 22 (Hina) - Croatian Railways (HZ) on Tuesday signed two EUR32.35 million contracts on the purchase and financing of eight diesel tilting trains which should start operating between Zagreb and Split from mid-June 2004,
reducing the time of travel to less than five hours.
ZAGREB, July 22 (Hina) - Croatian Railways (HZ) on Tuesday signed
two EUR32.35 million contracts on the purchase and financing of
eight diesel tilting trains which should start operating between
Zagreb and Split from mid-June 2004, reducing the time of travel to
less than five hours. #L#
The purchase contract was signed with the German-Canadian company
Bombardier Transportation and the financing contract with
Westdeutcshe Landes Bank, while the Croatian government issued a
state guarantee.
HZ CEO Marijan Drempetic said this was the first purchase of new
trains since 1982. These are highly comfortable trains with
Internet access which after 15 June 2004 will operate between
Zagreb and Split every four hours, he said.
The HZ plans to purchase five more trains for the Rijeka-Zagreb line
but these will start operating only in 2005 because the
infrastructure needs to be renovated first, said Drempetic.
Transport Minister Roland Zuvanic said the renovation and
modernisation of HZ trains remained the company's priority, as did
the improvement of services and increased competitiveness in
relation to air and road transport.
Bombardier's vice president for sales Stefan Krenz said the
purchase of trains was the starting point for a strategic
partnership with the HZ.
(hina) ha