The first cargo train organised by the Alliance Cargo 10, a joint company established by rail operators from Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia, departed from Paracin, Serbia, at 0821 hrs Monday, heading to Sezana, Slovenia, the Croatian Railways (HZ) reported on Monday morning.
The major task of the Alliance Cargo 10 is to substantially reduce Corridor 10 freight transport times from Ljubljana to Istanbul by expediting border procedures.
The first train consisting of 32 carriages is transporting wood charcoal briquettes to the Italian market.
It is expected to travel 20 hours from Paracin to Sezana, a Slovenian town near the border with Italy, taking 10 hours less than other freight trains on this route.
The train is due to enter Croatia at 1543 hrs Monday and to reach Zagreb later in the 
evening.
The train transporting briquettes should operate once a week along this route.
The joint regional company has been set up to "attract freight transports from Corridor IV, which passes through Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. There are currently 700 trains operating in the direction Ljubljana - Zagreb - Belgrade - Dimitrovgrad - Istanbul, with 7000 trains operating on corridor IV, which is longer and passes through Hungary," the Croatian HZ operator said on its web site.
"The aim is to attract some of these trains to operate on Corridor X, which will be achieved if corridor travel time is shortened from the current 60 to 35- 40 hours, and if a part of transports can be brought back from road or shifted to rail."
(Hina)