SARAJEVO-PLOCE RAIL SERVICE MAY START LATER THIS MONTH

PLOCE, July 4 (Hina) - Representatives of Croatian and Bosnian railway companies and of the southern Croatian port of Ploce met on Thursday to discuss the establishment of rail service between the Bosnian capital Sarajevo and the Adriatic Sea. The first train may leave Ploce for Sarajevo on July 30 this year if international donors continue to provide funds regularly and if Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina sign a bilateral agreement on railway traffic, Bosnian Railways director general Nedzad Brankovic said. For the time being, trains will be running at lower speed and carrying lighter cargoes due to damage to the line, director general of the Ploce port Ivica Pavlovic said. The Ploce-Sarajevo line was closed to traffic four years ago because of war. Before the war, about five million tons of goods had been transported annually along this route. 041720 MET jul 96