Works worth 190 million euros on the Kloštar – Varaždin railway have begun

These are works that began this month as part of a large project to reconstruct a section of the railway line with a total length of 90 kilometers, and include 74.7 kilometers of the Kloštar - Koprivnica - Varaždin section and 11.8 kilometers of the Varaždin - Čakovec section. The total value of these works is 190 million euros, and is financed with a loan from the European Investment Bank.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Oleg Butković pointed out that a large investment cycle of renovation and construction of railway infrastructure, amounting to more than 1.5 billion euros, has been launched in Croatia today:

"A large project is being built in the immediate vicinity, it is a project on the Mediterranean corridor - Križevci - Koprivnica - Hungarian border, which will be completed by the end of the year. The renovation of this regional railway, which will take approximately 40 months, will help Varaždin to be on that corridor as soon as possible. In that sense, it is a truly large project, but also the largest investment section when we talk about regional and local railways," said Minister Butković, continuing that in parallel with the renovation and construction of the railways, new trains are also being purchased, and one or two new trains arrive every month, so the modernization of the rolling stock continues.

Varaždin County Prefect Anđelko Stričak said that HŽ Infrastructure has now joined the ever-larger investments of state-owned companies in the Varaždin County, Croatian Roads and Croatian Waters.

– Last week, a building permit was issued for the construction of the Varaždin – Ivanec – Lepoglava – Krapina expressway, for the first section Varaždin – Cerje Tužno, so we expect the contractor to be introduced to the work in two to three weeks. Today, we are touring the works on the railway reconstruction project from Klošter via Koprivnica, Ludbreg, Varaždin to Čakovec, whose total value is 190 million euros. – emphasized Prefect Stričak and said that this will enable a shorter train journey from Varaždin to Ludbreg to Koprivnica, and then to Zagreb.

– It should also be recalled that last week the County Assembly adopted the 4th amendment to the Spatial Plan of Varaždin County, which included the route of the high-speed railway, the so-called Lepoglava junction, in the spatial planning documentation, and also provided the possibility of building an additional industrial track in Brezje, along the Zaprešić – Čakovec railway, for loading and unloading goods for the needs of the economy, especially container goods. All these investments are important and benefit our citizens. – said County Prefect Stričak.

The Mayor of Varaždin Neven Bosilj pointed out that this is a capital investment that will bring the City of Varaždin closer to Zagreb and shorten the journey by more than an hour.

– I welcome this investment, as well as the cooperation with the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure and the HŽ Infrastructure Management. We have also worked together to solve the key infrastructure problem of the City of Varaždin, which is the Kučan ramp, and we are soon about to issue a building permit. – said Mayor Bosilj.

The President of the Management Board of HŽ Infrastruktura, Ivan Kršić, explained that the Austrian company that will carry out the work has proven to be a good company, so they are confident that the work will definitely be completed on time.

– We will be announcing a tender for conceptual designs for the modernization of the railway from Zabok to Varaždin in the coming days, and we have not given up on the Lepoglava junction either. We have prepared the study documentation, which has now been put aside for a while because we want to solve all the main corridors and regional railways first, and then we will build that too. – said Kršić.