The company is renewing its rolling stock with 21 new electric trains and 85% of the project is co-financed from the Operational Programme Competitiveness and Cohesion, it was said.
To date, all 11 commuter trains have been delivered, and Končar will deliver another nine regional trains that will connect Zagreb with Vinkovci, Sisak, Novska, Koprivnica, Zabok, Karlovac, Ogulin and Rijeka as well as Vinkovci with Vukovar. All trains are expected to be delivered by April 2024.
The regional trains are 75 m long, they can reach the speed of 160 km/h, and their capacity is 209 sitting and 222 standing passengers.
These trains are quality Croatian-made products, safe and comfortable, Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Šime Erlić said, adding that the procurement of 21 electric trains is a big and strategic state project.
It is important to us that EU funds are invested in railways over the next decade, just as the past decade was marked by investment in road transport, he said, adding that the government wants to shorten the duration of rail travel and increase the number of rail passengers.
Big infrastructure projects relating to the Croatian Railways Infrastructure company are under way, as is a big overhaul of all passenger trains, said Alen Gospočić, state secretary for railways at the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry.
Seventy new trains are expected by 2025 and a total of 130 trains by 2032, which will be 90% of Croatian Railways' rolling stock, he said, adding that in ten years' time Croatia is expected to have safe, modern and economical railways, which are the current standard in developed Europe.
Local and regional railways will be upgraded as of next year, he said.