ZAGREB, 23 Feb 2022 - Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević inaugurated the Sljeme Cable Car on Wednesday, and citizens who have been waiting for the new cable car since 2007 can use it as of tomorrow.

"I am confident that the numerous citizens who will use this cable car will see that the ride is both safe and comfortable," Tomašević said, adding that the main task now is to enhance and increase the attractions and infrastructure on Mount Sljeme, overlooking the capital.

The old cable car was inaugurated in 1963 for the transport of athletes, recreationists and mountaineers, and its route was 4 km, 1 km shorter than the current one. It was one of the longest in Europe and the ride took some 20 minutes. It stopped operating in summer 2007 due to an engine fault, it was also decided that building a new cable car route was going to be more cost-efficient. A ticket cost HRK 11.

The construction of the new cable car was announced by the late mayor Milan Bandić in July 2016. HRK 30 million was earmarked in the city budget for the following year for the construction. A building permit was issued in summer 2018, and works began the following 25 January.

The new cable car was to have been inaugurated on 3 January 2021, but this was delayed until the final papers were ready and for some reconstruction works to be finished in April. However, there was a problem with noise and the final permit was obtained on Monday.

Tomašević said this was "an inherited, megalomaniacal project" worth HRK 537 million without VAT. The city would repay HRK 45 million annually over the next 12 years.

That amount refers to the cable car's capital expense, while an additional amount will be set aside from the city budget to cover 50% of its operating expenses.

"The investment in the cable car will never be returned and its big capacity to transport passengers to Sljeme will never be used to that extent," the mayor said.

The ride lasts 22 minutes. The cable car's maximum capacity is 1,500 passengers per hour, carried in 84 cabins with ten seats each.

The Sljeme Cable Car will operate from 9 am to 5 pm on weekdays and from 8 am to 6 pm on weekends. The first month will be a promotional period and then the cable car will be closed for additional noise-reduction works, after which it will be put into regular operation.

During the promotional month, a one-way ticket will be HRK 30 for adults and HRK 20 for persons aged 15-24 and those over 60, while a return ticket will be HRK 50 for adults and HRK 30 for the other group. Children under 14 and persons will disabilities can use the cable car for free.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

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January the 22nd, 2022 - Could Sljeme adrenaline parks and bike paths, as well as much more, ever come to be? This idea for year-round fun on the mountain which towers of the City of Zagreb has certainly attracted public attention.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec wrires, Sljeme adrenaline parks at two locations at the bottom of Crveni spust in the area of ​​the ski Complex within the Medvednica Nature Park, bike paths and a permanent bobsled track were ideas which were all brought to the public's keen attention by a current debate on the ski complex on Medvednica.

Known for the famous ski competition "Snow Queen", this gorgeous mountainous area above the Croatian capital opens up new opportunities for recreation enthusiasts because it creates spatial and planning prerequisites for the spatial, purposeful and technological expansion of the ski area into a unique ski-wire system with other accompanying facilities.

The Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Property, which is responsible for drafting the entire plan, says that the improvement of the excursion and recreational function as the primary function of the Medvednica Nature Park is the goal of drafting these amendments. They say that it is about enabling the improvement and development of recreational and sports facilities throughout the year.

The timing of this public debate, as well as all of the preparations for new projects and interventions, is difficult to currently assess, because the process of drafting spatial plans doesn't actually determine the financial aspect or the procedure of the further implementation of the intervention, which the department responsible duly noted.

Therefore, in the public speaking phase, proposals and opinions are being collected until February the 8th, 2022, followed by the preparation of a report, part of the timetable envisaged by the Croatian Government's decision from back in 2020.

The study and summary of the spatial plan can be found and read on the competent ministry's website, the Institute for Physical Planning of the City of Zagreb is the expert author of the UPU amendment, and a public presentation was held yesterday at the competent ministry.

The current UPU planned for a route for summer tobogganing on the Red, Green, Blue and White downhill trails on Sljeme which would have be around 1824 metres long, designed as a single-pipe assembly-disassembly structure that could have been installed or dismantled with the changing of the summer and winter seasons.

That idea sadly didn't come to life as it was assessed as technically non-functional and burdensome for the space. The new solution defines a new route and the area of ​​the toboggan run route which would be called "Sljemeski bob", with new technical and performance solutions (building of the upper and lower station in the function of bobsleigh), without additional environmental impact.

Areas for the arranging and building/reconstruction of buildings in the function of ski resorts include the upper stations of Crveni and Zeleni spust: a four-seater cable car is planned at the location of today's Zeleni spust lift, with the extension of the route to the bottom of Plavi spust. Sljeme adrenaline parks and bike paths, as well as an overall improvement in the ski offer above Zagreb would certainly allow for the boosting of year round tourism as more and more international visitors discover the bustling Croatian capital.

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February 14, 2021 – A resident of suburbs to the north of the Croatian capital today blocked the city's tramlines with a fence in protest over an unresolved City of Zagreb land dispute. He threatened to repeat the action over forthcoming days

Marijan Kos and his neighbours are seemingly sick of waiting. The City of Zagreb land dispute they and their families have been involved in has been dragging on for sixty years. Many have watched their neighbours die awaiting a resolution.

They are residents of the north Zagreb suburb of Gračani, just before Mount Medvednica and almost the northernmost point to where city trams travel. And they claim ownership of land over which the trams now pass. Nobody disputes their claim. But, following the compulsory confiscation of their property for passage of the tramway network, they have still not been reimbursed. So, this morning, Marijan Kos took matters into his own hands.

Carrying a prepared fence, another man and Mr Kos - who is president of the neighbourhood's local committee - stood on either side of the tram line to block an approaching tram. They waited for only 30 seconds before backing down, then allowed the driver and his passengers to continue on their way. The Zagreb land dispute protest was symbolic. This time.

How Croatian portal Index carried the story of today's Zagreb land protest on the tramlines © Index screenshot

"With today's action we want to warn the City of Zagreb of the property-legal problem that has not been resolved since 1959,” Mr. Kos told reporters who had gathered to witness the Zagreb land dispute protest. “Since that year, we've had a final decision by which ZET (the tram network operator) is obliged to compensate the inhabitants of Gračani for the land confiscated for the construction of the tram line from Mihaljevac to Gracanski Dolj. That's about 166 land registry entries (and) there are about the same number of owners - some have already died and had no heirs. We are talking about 68,926 square meters of land on both sides of the tram line.”

The tramline has run through the disputed land in Gracani for well over 50 years © Zagreb Facts

Mr. Kos invited the City to talk and uphold the standing agreement because, he says, it is in everyone's interest to resolve the matter in the best possible way. According to Vecernji List, who had a reporter at the scene, Mr. Kos reminded everyone that this tramline - once the mountain cable car opens - will become one of the main means of transport for all Zagreb residents and tourists to reach the top of Mount Medvednica.

Signalling that the Zagreb land dispute may escalate over forthcoming days, Mr. Kos went on to say; “We have prepared a fence and in the next few days we plan to install it and close the passage of trams if the City of Zagreb does not invite us to a meeting to try to solve this problem that has been dragging on for 50 years.”

Sljeme has always been a top attraction for those of us who live in Zagreb. The peaceful rolling hills coated in thick forests with bike paths and hiking trails snaking between the trees are the perfect escape from the hustle and bustle (and indeed the pollution) of the Croatian capital city which sits just below. Could the construction of the Sljeme cable car enhance its touristic lure?

From Medvednica nature park to the ski slopes of Sljeme, the entire area acts much like Marjan hill does for Split - Sljeme and its nature are the lungs of the City of Zagreb. However, Sljeme isn't free of controversy despite the peace and quiet it offers, and that's all down to the will-it-won't-it saga of the Sljeme cable car, which once operated on the mountain.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 11th of December, 2019, on Tuesday, Zagreb City Assembly's lawmakers gave the "green light" to ZET for a massive loan totalling 537 million kuna for the construction of the much talked about and long awaited Sljeme cable car.

Initial construction of the brand new Sljeme cable car began earlier this year, and recent footage and pictures show that much of it has indeed already been built.

Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić announced back in June this year that he would try to finish the Sljeme cable car in time for Zagreb's city day, which is May the 31st next year, when the Remetinec roundabout, which has also had its fair share of problems, could also finally be completed.

At that time, he said that its construction was being carried out in four phases - the reconstruction of the Mihaljevac-Dolje railway line, the development of all of the necessary project documentation for the new Sljeme cable car, the procurement of equipment for the Sljeme cable car and then of course, the actual construction of the cable car.

As stated, the powers that be in Zagreb have given the cable car's construction the "green light" by approving ZET a loan for 537 million kuna and a repayment period of fifteen years, the opposition does not dispute that the Sljeme cable car is definitely needed, but considers it questionable whether the money for it is actually there, and another question is whether or not the enormous loan which has now been approved can be repaid at all.

Watch a video of how the works are progressing below:

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