The train ride from Karlovac to Zagreb currently takes an hour. A track reconstruction project of the Hrvatski Leskovac - Karlovac railway line, worth 3.45 billion HRK (463.4 million EUR), will cut the train journey to 30 minutes.

Section of Current Weekday Zagreb - Karlovac Train Schedule | Croatian Railways

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković attended a ceremony in Karlovac on December 27, 2019 to sign the grant agreement for the project to rebuild the existing railway line and construct a second track from Hrvatski Leskovac to Karlovac.

Zagreb – Karlovac Train Speeds to 160km/h

It is a 44-kilometer section of the railway, and its reconstruction and second track upgrade will improve suburban traffic from Zagreb to Karlovac, and is part of a larger project to build a lowland railway from Hungary to the Port of Rijeka, which will improve connections to the markets of Central Europe.

The project encompasses the reconstruction of the existing railway line and the construction of a second track. It also includes the renovation of the Hrvatski Leskovac, Jastrebarsko and Karlovac railway stations, while the Horvati, Zdenčina and Draganići stations will be transformed into stops. The existing stops Mavracići, Desinec, Domagovići and Lazina will also be renovated. The reconstruction of the railway line will include upgrading and modernizing a stable railway track and installing signaling and telecommunications systems, which will enable maximum train speeds of 160 km/h.

Current 44 Kilometer Track Upgrade and Construction | Croatian Railways

Increased Use of EU Budget Funds for Infrastructure

The Prime Minister stressed that it is important that this event is happening just a few days before Croatia takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, according to 01Portal on December 27, 2019.

“In public life, it is important to continue to raise awareness of the added value of EU membership. This project, worth 3.45 billion HRK, of which 2.7 billion are entirely grants from the European budget to Croatia, is another example of how important EU membership is for the development of Croatia, and for the development of transport or railway infrastructure in this particular case,” Prime Minister Plenković pointed out.

Croatia to Invest 3 Billion EUR in Railway Upgrades

He announced that Croatia will invest 3 billion EUR in railway infrastructure improvements over the next ten years. He added that the reconstruction of the main train station in Karlovac was also a sound investment for Karlovac, and an effective use of European funds.

“Karlovac will obtain a modernized renovated station and, most importantly, our Karlovac residents will arrive in Zagreb twice as fast as they can currently,” said the Prime Minister, pointing out the additional value of this project, which increases the overall percentage of fund usage within the EU budgetary framework to 83 percent.

The contract for the grant was signed by the Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butković, the CFCA (Central Finance and Contracting Agency) Director Tomislav Petrić and the President of the Board of HZ (Croatian Railways) Infrastructure Ivan Kršić. The Hrvatski Leskovac - Karlovac track section is a part of the Zagreb - Rijeka railway line.

Upgrades Underway for Entire Zagreb – Rijeka Line

“Tenders are underway for project studies to upgrade the next two railway sections to Rijeka: Karlovac - Oštarije and Oštarije – Škrljevo. We have obtained the necessary location permits and plans are also underway to improve the Škrljevo - Rijeka - Jurdani section, which is the fourth and final section of the Zagreb - Rijeka railway line,” Ivan Kršić noted.

Follow our Travel page for more information on upgrades to transportation infrastructure in Croatia.

We recently reported on the train from Bjelovar to Zagreb which runs on Croatian Railways' newly opened tracks. The train ride from the city in Bjelovar-Bilogora County to the Croatian capital should now take a mere one hour, and if you've ever taken a train anywhere in Croatia, you'll know that that's something to be excited about. However, of course, in true Croatian style - the train barely managed to leave Bjelovar train station without encoutering a few little issues.

As Novac writes on the 15th of December, 2019, on the 15th of December at 10:52 in the morning, the first train on the new railway line, which are otherwise the very first railway lines in Croatia to be built after as many as 52 years, departed from Bjelovar train station, heading in the direction of the bustling Croatian capital city.

However, as previously touched on, in true Croatian style, the train couldn't simply just leave Bjelovar train station and embark on its journey to Zagreb without encountering at least one problem. The new train rather anticlimactically stopped in its tracks (literally) just 200 metres after leaving Bjelovar train station owing to some minor technical difficulties, with some blockages reportedly triggered. However, this rather embarrassing situation was quickly remedied and the train continued running, according to a report from the local portal bjelovar.live.

The total value of the project, which was co-financed by the European Regional Development and Cohesion Fund, stands at a massive 258 million kuna.

This is a suburban train section, and the new railway will now allow for shorter journeys. As we reported in the article we linked above, it will now be possible to arrive from Bjelovar train station to Zagreb train station in one hour, a welcome alteration when compared to the previous two hours it took to travel between these two continental Croatian cities.

Watch the video of the train making its maiden journey below:

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