October the 22nd, 2022 - Have you been made more than an hour late getting into work because of Croatian trains arriving late? You could be entitled to compensation from HZ. Here's how you can get your hands on it.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, owing to maintenance works being carried out at this moment in time on the railway section from Okucani to Strizivojna, Croatian trains running along it are unfortunately being delayed by up to 50 minutes at a time. As a result, passengers are also being made late for work, school or scheduled medical appointments. Such people can count on a payout for their lost time.

Croatian trains are often late and therefore so are their passengers. At the station in Slavonski Brod, Marica was waiting for a passenger to arrive from Novska, so far, that passenger is about 20 minutes late, but last time, she explained, it was like this: "They announced that the train would be half an hour late, then it was 60 minutes, then 50 minutes, then 70, in the end it was 60,'' explained Marica from Zadubravlje.

There are still irritated and anxious passengers boarding Croatian trains, but also those who are already for issues to arise and those who are more than used to delays. "It causes issues throughout the day for everything for me when this happens, it's a disaster. This has been going on for some time now, too,'' stated another annoyed passenger, refering to an accident in Novska which be believed caused additional stress and problems.

HZ Infrastruktura (Infrastructure) has denied this. Croatian trains are late, they note, due to the maintenance of the railway infrastructure on the Okucani-Sibinj and Strizivojna-Slavonski Brod sections.

"The accident that happened recently happened between Novska and Okucani. We're working to exclude construction work and that has nothing to do with signalling," said Darko Barisic, a member of the HZ Infrastructure Management Board, on October the 6th, 2022. While the aforementioned works are in progress, Croatian trains will continue to run more slowly and be delayed by around fifty minutes at a time.

Everything should be finished at the beginning of next month, and  passengers were asked if they think HZ should compensate them for lost time.

“Well yes, they should. People are being made late for work, what can people do about that?'' they commented.

"HZ Infrastructure must do its work and there will be no compensation", is the message of Darko Barisic, but that isn't quite the case. There is compensation of sorts to be had, but only if the train is delayed for more than an hour.

For a delay of 60 to 119 minutes, compensation is paid in the amount of 25 percent of the ticket price. For delays longer than 120 minutes, compensation is paid in the amount of 50 percent of the ticket price. Along with the request to exercise this right, it is necessary to attach a certified ticket and send everything by post, email or hand it over at the cash desk.

For more, make sure to keep up with our dedicated news section.

September the 6th, 2022 - Croatian railway lines aren't exactly the subject of many words of praise. In fact, the entire train network and system requires an overhaul of epic proportions and pales horribly in comparison to the rest of the country's public transport offer, which in most respects is very good. Battery electric trains are apparently set to take to Croatian railway lines in the future.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, although the Republic of Croatia actually does have an extensive network of railways, 635 kilometres per million inhabitants to be more precise, the network is outdated with non-standardised parameters, that is, it only has a small number of kilometres of double-track and electrified railways, and according to many indicators, Croatian railway lines are at the very back of the EU in terms of service efficiency.

With that being said, large investments in Croatian railway lines, trains and overall infrastructure should soon change that, and on that track, the HZ Passenger transport (Putnicki prijevoz) tender has just been announced for the procurement of two battery electric train prototypes and six connections for charging those drive batteries along the country's railway network.

As explained from HZ Passenger transport, the company currently organises Croatia's train network with 60 diesel engine trains that are older than 40 years and whose service life is rapidly running out.

When taking into account this obsolescence and generally large financial investments in an additional electrification system, a logical way thinking and a solution to the current situation is offered by introducing battery electric trains. In this case, this would mean the acquisition of two new train prototypes and the delivery and commissioning of six stable energy connections for charging the drive batteries at locations in Varazdin, Bjelovar, Virovitica, Osijek, Split and Pula.

The battery electric train (BEMV) has a battery that is charged at the terminals, but also along the electrified part of the track as it runs along it, and they would be used on mixed tracks for the destinations Zagreb - Varazdin, Bjelovar, Virovitica and Osijek.

On the other hand, the battery motor train (BMV) is charged only at stable energy connections and would be used along mostly non-electrified tracks on the routes from Zagreb to Split and Pula. The deadline for the delivery of these battery trains to HZ Passenger transport is 20 months from the signing of the contract.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

August the 1st, 2022 - Croatia isn't known for its high speed, uber efficient train network. In fact, it's quite the opposite, and it doesn't really seem as if anyone quite knows what to do about it. A Zagreb-Split train was recently delayed, one of many of late, by 134 minutes in total.

We've recently had stories about a train driver simply deciding not to turn up to work, leaving passengers waiting around for far longer than they should have, and one about an employee falling asleep on the job, causing issues for yet another train. Will it ever get better, you might ask?

As Morski writes, the Zagreb-Split train carrying passengers was due to arrive in the Dalmatian port city on Friday at 15:20, but instead, it arrived 134 minutes late. Croatian Railways (HZ), who have been having to do an awful lot of explaining lately, says that the problems started when the train's air conditioner malfunctioned at 16:10 at the train station in Karlovac.

''Given that the bus operator couldn't provide the three buses needed to transport the passengers sitting on train 523 within 60 minutes, a second unit was sent from Zagreb Central Station, which left Karlovac station 92 minutes late, and then arrived at the Split train station with a 134 minute delay,'' they stated from Croatian Railways.

The train which has ended up being faced with issues and delays is otherwise a recently introduced line that runs from Osijek to Split, and it is, it seems, very regularly late.

Croatian Railways will refund all passengers 50% of their purchased ticket price.

Croatian Railways apologised to the passengers on the Zagreb-Split train and told them that they are free to exercise their right to compensation for the delay.

In case the train is delayed from 60 to 119 minutes, compensation is paid in the amount of 25% of the original ticket price. And if, as is the situation in this case, the delay is longer than 120 minutes, compensation is paid in the amount of 50% of the ticket price, as reported by Index.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

June the 30th, 2022 - Croatian railways aren't usually praised by many users of their services, with complaints about the trains being slow frequent and even situations in which the train drivers not bothering to turn up for work occurring. Could all that change with some new acquisitions?

There is an enormous amount to see all over this extremely geographically diverse country, which, while small, packs a punch from the sparkling Adriatic Sea and its impressive rugged coastline to its imposing, karst mountain ranges, luscious green rolling hills, picturesque lakes and seemingly endless Eastern vineyards. Seeing it all by train would be the preferred choice of many if things ran a little more smoothly, and it seems like that's going to happen.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, recently, the Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butkovic, visited the Koncar factory hall in which brand new electric trains are being produced as part of the project entitled The Reconstruction of the Croatian Railways (HZ) Passenger Transport fleet.

The new trains are being co-financed from the Competitiveness and Cohesion Operational Programme 2014-2020 in the amount of 85 percent, and the total estimated value of the project stands at a whopping 1.29 billion kuna.

Croatian Railways is continuing modernising its entire fleet with eleven brand new electric trains for urban-suburban transport and ten other new electric trains for regional transport, and by the year 2024, it should have almost seventy new trains in use across the country, which makes up more than fifty percent of the current fleet.

These brand new and much more modern trains set to take to Croatian railways will reach a speed of 160 kilometres per hour and will be equipped with ramps for people in wheelchairs, and there will also be proper bicycle space and free internet access for passengers.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.

ZAGREB, 19 Feb 2022 - The labour union of construction workerss (SGH) on Saturday condemned the fact that workers in two Turkish companies working on the reconstruction of the Križevci-Koprivnica railway had been laid off simply because they had contacted the union who informed them of their rights.

"Two Turkish companies engaged in the reconstruction of the Križevci-Koprivnica railway line, laid off a group of workers on Thursday simply because they had a brief meeting with the SGH who had informed the workers of their rights pertaining to the collective agreement in construction and providing them with leaflets during their lunch break," the union said in a press release.

The union added that workers received their notice via a text message without any explanation.

The Turkish companies Cengiz Insaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. and Ci-Ay Mühendislik, landed  contracts for the railway reconstruction by HŽ Infrastruktura railway management company for a price that is higher than the construction of Pelješac Bridge.

"This type of penalising workers because of their contact with the union is the vilest breach of union rights that are guaranteed by Croatian and international law," SGH said.

The union said that during the meeting with workers they were informed that some provisions of the collective agreement were being grossly violated because workers were working between 250 and 300 hours a month, meaning overtime in aggravating circumstances yet they were not additionally paid and that they were also not being paid for sick leave.

The union has called for an urgent response by the State Inspectorate but also the ministry of transport, and HŽ Infrastruktura as the investor.

An enormous individual project for Croatian Railways is about to kick off, backed with 2.3 billion kuna and considerable help from European Union funds.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 10th of August, 2020, HZ Infrastructure is starting the reconstruction of the existing track and the construction of the second track of the railway from Hrvatski Leskovac to Karlovac, and the estimated value of works on this project is the largest of all individual works undertaken by Croatian Railways so far, amounting to 2.3 billion kuna without VAT, as was reported by Vecernji list on Monday.

According to HZ Infrastructure, the tender for this line will be announced in September, and the tender documentation is currently being reviewed by the Central Agency for Financing and Contracting of EU Programmes and Projects (CFCA), because this project is also co-financed in the amount of 85 percent by European Union funds. The Hrvatski Leskovac section is part of the Rijeka - Hungarian border railway, and the conversion of a single-track line into a two-track line from Zagreb to the border has already begun. Works are already being carried out on the Dugo Selo - Krizevci section, and the contractor for the Krizevci - state border section has already been put into operation.

With the realisation of the Hrvatski Leskovac - Karlovac project, the works on the transformation of this Croatian railway into a modern two-track railway from Zagreb to Rijeka will start.

The Rijeka - Zagreb - Budapest railway is part of the Mediterranean TEN-T corridor. The realisation of this project, as well as other sections on which works are being performed and on which they are planned, will increase the competitiveness of the Port of Rijeka by improving its transport connections with the markets across Central Europe, the aforementioned publication writes. With the reconstruction of the existing track and construction of the second track on the section Hrvatski Leskovac - Karlovac in the length of 44.02 kilometres, the section will be able to boast a maximum speed of 160 km/h, except in the area of ​​Mavracic, Jastrebarsko and Karlovac, where it will be 120 and 140 km/h due to the space constraints. The current single-track electrified railway will also become double-track.

As for other sections on the Rijeka - state border line, ie the lowland railway project, HZ Infrastructure says that the main project for the Skrljevo - Rijeka - Jurdani section is underway and that they plan to apply for European Union funds in the second half of next year for that project. For the Karlovac - Ostarije section, which is 40 kilometres long, a tender for the preparation of the study documentation is in progress. The preparation of the study documentation for the Ostarije - Skrljevo section is also currently in progress.

Croatia also expects co-financing from EU funds for the remaining Rijeka-state border line section, and according to the announcements of the Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butkovic, the entire project could be completed by 2027.

For more on Croatian railways and other investments in Croatia, follow our dedicated business section.

May 10, 2018 - A train ride from Rijeka to Zagreb will take you 3.5 hours at best and some 11 hours at worst. Why?

Croatian Railways never fail to surprise.

Construction of the first railroad to be built in Croatia in the last 50 years is reaching its final stage – there are only 100 metres of tracks left to finish. As it turns out, these mere 100 metres are proving to be the most problematic part of the whole project.

Croatian Railways (HŽ), as of 13 December will have new timetables, reports HRTurizam on 12 December 2016. In relation to the timetables of the 2014/15 season, on 13 December the railway passenger transport will introduce four border trains towards Serbia, a pair of night trains between Zagreb-Split-Zagreb driving in the off-season, and an additional five trains in local traffic will also be introduced. The timetable for 2015/16 from 13 December will operate 714 international trains and 657 in domestic traffic.