February 21 (SeeNews) - Croatia has signed a 366 million kuna ($53 million/49 million euro) contract with Austria's Swietelski for the reconstruction of the railway section from the capital Zagreb to Savski Marof, on the border with Slovenia, the transport ministry said.
Out of the total project cost, 210 million kuna is financed by a World Bank loan, the ministry said in a statement on Thursday when the contract was signed.
Works on the 18-km section should be completed in 27 months.
They will cover the complete reconstruction of railway lines and beds, including the rehabilitation of several bridges, underpasses, railway crossings, the replacement of platforms and adjacent areas, the installation of canopies, as well as the renovation of the Savski Marof railway station and the Brdovec railway stop, the ministry said.
Some 160 trains travel on this section each day, which makes it the busiest railway route in Croatia, the head of railway infrastructure operator HZ Infrastruktura, Ivan Krsic, said in the same statement.
Following the revamp, the speed of trains is expected to double to 120 km per hour, Krsic said, adding that the last reconstruction of the section was completed back in 1969.
The project is part of Croatia's ongoing programme to invest 1.5 billion euro ($1.6 billion) in railway infrastructure upgrades, with the volume expected to rise to 3.5 billion euro by 2030, transport minister Oleg Butkovic said.
(1 euro = 7.44783 kuna)