Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia to establish joint rail company

Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia in Belgrade on Friday signed a declaration supporting the establishment of a joint rail company to ensure faster transport of goods along the pan-European Transport Corridor 10.

Speaking at a press conference after the signing ceremony, the State Secretary of Croatia's Transport Ministry, Danijel Mileta, Serbian Infrastructure Minister Milutin Mrkonjic and Slovenian Transport Minister Patrick Vlacic said that the joint company would ensure competitiveness for the rail companies of the three countries.

The joint company, expected to be established within the next month and a half, would be managed by EU member Slovenia. The management would consist of representatives of all three companies and its main task would be to organise transport rather than secure a profit.

Mrkonjic said that Corridor 10, which runs from Ljubljana via Zagreb, Belgrade and Dimitrovgrad to Istanbul, was currently used by 700 trains, while Corridor 4, which is longer and goes via Hungary, was used by 7,000 trains.

"If we attract some of those trains to use our corridor, and we will if we shorten travel time from the present 60 hours to 35-40 hours, each of our countries will get 50 million euros annually," Mrkonjic said, adding that this would also shorten customs and police procedures on the borders.


(Hina)