New Trains Worth Over 100 Million Euros Coming to Croatia

February the 26th, 2025 – 13 new trains worth over 100 million euros are coming to Croatia as the country finally does something about its infamously poor railway infrastructure.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, HŽ Putnički prijevoz (Passenger Transport) recently announced an open public procurement procedure for five long-distance electro-diesel trains, four electro-battery trains and four battery trains worth a total of 107.3 million euros excluding VAT.

These new trains set to grace the tracks of Croatia are being financed as part of a wider project entitled “The Revitalisation of the Railway System of the Republic of Croatia”, from a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB).

The new electro-diesel trains will run along routes in Croatia from Zagreb to Koprivnica and Osijek, Čakovec and Kotoriba, Zadar, Rijeka and Pula (via neighbouring Slovenia). They will provide catering services, be equipped with a completely modern passenger information system, ramps and other accommodations for passengers with disabilities, comfortable seats and places to properly store bikes.

The new electro-battery trains will be used to transport passengers on the non-electrified and electrified railway networks of Croatia. On the non-electrified railway network, they will utilise their batteries for propulsion, and on the electrified network, a classic pantograph power supply system will be used. The batteries will be charged from the overhead line or using stable power connections.

As part of the project, two stable power connections will also be purchased in order to enable to charging of the traction batteries at the Lupoglav and Velika stations.

It has been emphasised that the application of green technologies in rail passenger transport will significantly reduce harmful CO2 emissions into the environment. This is primarily owing to the replacement of old diesel-motor trains with new electro-diesel, electro-battery and battery vehicles. In addition to bringing down harmful emissions, the move will also ensure a high quality service and drastically reduced fuel costs, noise and operating costs.

With this large project and others that are in the pipeline, the ongoing renewal of Croatia’s train and railway stock is continuing at a good pace. There are currently 61 new low-floor trains rolling along the tracks of Croatia. This year, one new electro-battery train and one battery train, as well as seven diesel-electric multiple units, will be put into service. In 2026, six electro-diesel trains will also be put into service to connect the cities of Zagreb and Split