Croatia’s railway sector is the worst in Europe, according to an annual report on transport in the EU published by the European Commission on Monday.

The report, which details air, road, and railway transport within the European Union, said that a poor road safety record is also a problem in the country, with Croatia among the EU countries with highest fatality rates, Index.hr news website reported on Monday.

“In 2017, Croatia was still among the three worst performing EU countries in terms of road safety (80 deaths per million inhabitants versus 49 in EU),” the report said, adding that Croatia, Romania, Poland, Greece, and Bulgaria must immediately introduce new safety measures.

However, the number one issue of the transport sector in Croatia are the railways, the EC said, adding that “the status of railway infrastructure lags significantly behind the EU average.”

The report warned that “restrictive regulations and policies still dominate the railway market in Croatia,” adding that productivity was very weak in the country’s state-owned enterprises, including the three companies which dominate the railway sector – Croatian Railways Infrastructure, Croatian Railways Cargo, and Croatian Railways Passenger Transport.

“The outdated and limited rail infrastructure results in low competitiveness, low quality of service and a general preference for other transport modes, in particular road, where the quality of infrastructure is significantly higher,” the report said.

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