Croatian government discussed the letter of intent proposing the transnational Alpine-Western Balkans rail freight corridor.

The corridor is envisioned as a major infrastructure project jointly proposed by relevant ministries of Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia, Poslovni dnevnik reported on Thursday (March 15).

According to transport minister, Oleg Butković, the goal of the letter is to express political backing of all signatories for the project. The proposed corridor would include rail routes connecting Austrian cities of Salzburg, Villach and Graz with major cities in Slovenia and Croatia and eastwards up to Belgrade and Sofia and the Bulgaria-Turkey border.

If the European Commission agrees with the proposal, all countries involved will be obliged to open the rail freight corridor within two years. “In the first phase, the rail freight corridor would be implemented in the territories of EU member states included in the proposal, and later it would be expanded to Serbia, as soon as the necessary legal framework is completed there,” said Butković.