CROATIA’s fourth-largest city, Osijek, is investing over €45m to modernise its two-line, 12km light rail network, the largest such investment in 30 years. Work is set to conclude in the second quarter of this year.
The project includes upgrading 9.5km of overhead line as well as 8.5km of underground cable, 9.8km of track, and making 23 stops accessible for persons with reduced mobility (PRM). Later this month, the city will receive the first of 10 new 21m-long LRVs ordered from Končar under a €23m contract placed in 2023. Deliveries are due to conclude in September.
Funding for the purchase of low-floor LRVs was provided from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the Modernisation Fund. Osijek plans to apply for funding to purchase 10 more LRVs, potentially replacing its entire fleet.
The light rail network is suffering from years of underinvestment, with the last new tram delivered in 1982.
Zagreb
Meanwhile, Croatia’s capital city Zagreb has received the first new low-floor LRV from Končar out of a total of 40 ordered under two separate contracts.
The 20.8m-long LRV has capacity for 115 passengers and features air-conditioning, door-monitoring cameras, access ramps, in-car CCTV, USB charging ports, and a passenger counting system. Testing of the first LRV is now underway.
Delivery of 20 LRVs under a €38m contract placed in June 2023 will conclude in December. A second order for another 20 vehicles, worth nearly €40m, was placed in September 2024.
Zagreb mayor, Tomislav Tomašević, says a further order for another 40 longer low-floor LRVs is planned, taking the planned outlay to more than €200m. “This is a huge investment,” he says.
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