Country portraits
17. 06. 2020
Picturesque coasts, fascinating cities and lots of hearty food. Every year more than 10 million tourists visit the land of 1000 islands. In addition, the pan-European Transport Corridor X runs through Croatia and connects Central and south-eastern Europe with the Middle East. The Balkan Peninsula is therefore not only interesting for tourists, but also for ÖBB Rail Cargo Group's rail freight traffic.
Dalmatians, shirt ties and parachutes: Perhaps not recognisable at first glance, but a wide spectrum of people and things originate in Croatia. The capital Zagreb impresses visitors with its characteristic Austro-Hungarian architecture. Its abundance of cultural treasures is unmissable. It is no surprise that Croatia, along with Spain, possesses the most intangible treasures in Europe that have been declared cultural and natural World Heritages and Heritage Sites by UNESCO.
It is not surprising that tourism is the most important economic sector, accounting for around 19 percent of the country’s GDP, while exports account for around 18 percent of the GDP. With regard to the manufacturing industry, food and beverage production is the strongest sector. In addition to the pharmaceutical industry, the textile and clothing industry has a long tradition in Croatia. The most significant imported goods are mainly mineral fuels, electrical energy as well as machinery and mechanical equipment. The export of grain, the steel industry and the mineral oil industry play an important role for RCG in Croatia. With the freight railway company Rail Cargo Carrier - Croatia d.o.o., we offer a high-performance logistics service: as a transit country, Croatia forms the heart of transports between Hungary and Slovenia. Also TransFER connections to the international port of Rijeka as well as to Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina are part of our range of services. In 2018, RCG transported a total of 1.8 million tonnes to and from Croatia.
The railway network is approx. 2,700 km long. During the period of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, relatively little was invested in the railway network. For this reason, the network is in need of urgent modernization. The delayed development of the Croatian railways is made clear by the fact that the EU average share of railways in freight transport is 28 percent, but only 17 percent in Croatia.
The national railway company is Hrvatske željeznice (HŽ), which operates rail transport in Croatia and was privatised in 2006. Domestic passenger rail transport in Croatia has not yet been liberalised, so the only active passenger rail operator is HŽ. Last year, six railway companies actively participated in the rail freight market. HŽ's market share in rail freight transport in 2017 was 76%. In 2018, RCG achieved a market share of 8.4%.
