Railway infrastructure modernization projects in the Republic of Croatia

Željeznička mreža u Republici Hrvatskoj obuhvaća 2.617 km pruge u prometu dok je izvan prometa 184 km pruge, što Hrvatsku stavlja u rang visoko razvijenih europskih zemalja s obzirom na omjer kilometara pruge po broju stanovnika. Većina pruga gotovo 90% su jednokolosiječne pruge dok je samo 36% pruge elektrificirano. Željeznički sektor za vrijeme rata pretrpio je velike gubitke što je rezultiralo drastičnim smanjenjem prihoda od prijevoza i visokih troškova poslovanja koji su doveli do toga da je u modernizaciju i osuvremenjivanje ulagano vrlo malo. Zbog svega navedenog pruge su zastarjele kao i prometne kontrole i signalno sigurnosni uređaji što je rezultiralo smanjenim su brzinama prometovanja i mnogobrojnim ograničenjima brzina. Kako bi postojeća željeznička infrastruktura bila konkurentna unutar regije i među koridorima potrebna je obnova i modernizacija postojećih pruge te izgradnja novih. Kroz RH prolaze dva koridora Osnovne prometne mreže – Mediteranski koridor i Rajna Dunav koridor. Osim koridora Osnovne prometne mreže u Republici Hrvatskoj nalaze se dva Koridora i to RFC 6 Mediteranski koridor i RFC10 Alpe–zapadni Balkan. Ulaskom RH u Europsku uniju stvorile su se mogućnosti za modernizaciju i obnovu pruga korištenjem europskih sredstava i investicijskih fondova (ESI). Neki od projekata modernizacije koriste se sredstvima iz Operativnog programa Konkurentnost i kohezija (OPKK). Osim sredstava predviđenih putem OPKK, određeni projekti željezničke infrastrukture mogu se financirati i iz Instrumenta za povezivanje Europe (CEF) koji je osnovan za dodatna ulaganja i izgradnju nove te unaprjeđenje postojeće prometne, energetske i telekomunikacijske infrastrukture na koridorima Transeuropske prometne mreže. Najveći projekti HŽ Infrastrukture sufinancirani su sredstvima EU. Projekti su podijeljeni na projekte pripreme tehničke dokumentacije za radove te na projekte provedbe – izvođenja radova i stručnog nadzora Projekti HŽ Infrastrukture kategorizirani su prema stupnju složenosti odnosno važnosti projekta te prema vrsti projekta odnosno području primjene. Svaki od navedenih projekata ima imenovani projektni tim koji se bavi upravljanjem i provedbom projekata. Prilikom pripreme projekta te u fazi izvođenja javljaju se brojni problemi kako neusklađenosti regulative i propisa javnih i državnih službi, problemi Studije o utjecaju zahvata na okoliš, problemi s javnom nabavom i sl. Sve navedeno nužno je što brže otklonili kako bi izbjegli kašnjenja u provedbi/ pripremi projekata ili ih sveli na najmanju i pritom prihvatljivu mjeru.The railway network in the Republic of Croatia includes 2.617 km of railway lines in use, with additional 184 km of railway lines not in use; which puts Croatia in the rank of highly developed European countries with respect to the ratio of kilometers of railway lines per capita. Most of the railway lines, almost 90%, are single-track, while only 36% of the railway lines are electrified. During the war, the railway sector suffered heavy losses, which resulted in a drastic reduction of transport income and high operating costs that led to very small investment in modernization. As the result of the aforementioned situation, railway lines are outdated as are traffic controls and safety signaling system equipment, leading to reduced operating speeds and numerous speed limits. In order make the existing railway infrastructure competitive within the region and between the corridors, renovation and modernization of existing lines as well as the construction of the new ones are necessary. There are two corridors of the Basic Transport Network passing through the Republic of Croatia - the Mediterranean Corridor and the Rhine-Danube Corridor. In addition to the Basic Transport Network Corridor, there are two Corridors in the Republic of Croatia, namely RFC 6 Mediterranean Corridor and RFC10 Alps – Western Balkans. With the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union, opportunities for the modernization and renovation of railway lines by using European funds and investment funds (ESI), have been made. Some of the modernization projects use funds from the Operational Programme Competitiveness and Cohesion (OPCC). In addition to the funds provided through the OPCC, certain railway infrastructure projects can be financed from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), which was established for additional investments and construction of the new transport, energy and telecommunications infrastructure on Trans_European Transport Network corridors as well as the improvement of the axisting one. The biggest HŽ Infrastruktura projects are co-financed by EU funds. The projects are divided into Preparation of technical documentation projects and Implementation Projects – Works execution and Expert supervision. HŽ Infrastruktura projects are categorized according to the complexity or importance of the project as well as according to the type of project or area of use. Each of these projects has a designated project team, in charge of project management and implementation. During the preparation of the project as well as in the implementation phase, there are numerous problems such as non-compliance of regulations and public and state services ordinances, problems of the Environmental Impact Study, problems with public procurement, etc. It is necessary to eliminate all of the aforementioned issues as soon as possible to avoid delays of project implementation /preparation or to reduce them to a minimum and acceptable level