The 12.2 kilometre Gradec - Sv. Ivan Zabno railway line, which has cost HRK 258 million and has been co-funded by the European Union's funds, was formally opened on Monday morning.

This is the first investment in a new railway line in 52 years in Croatia, and in attendance at the ceremony were top officials including Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Transport and Infrastructure Minister Oleg Butkovic who were among passengers aboard the train which was the first to be driven from Sveti Ivan Zabno to Gradec and back, some 60 kilometres north-east of Zagreb, on Monday morning.

The new railroad will shorten commuting times from these parts of Croatia and the capital city of Zagreb.

This investment included three overpasses and three underpasses and a bridge. Also bypasses and ringroads in the area were reconstructed.

PM Plenkovic said that the new railway line would facilitate the transport of residents in the counties of Koprivnica-Krizevci, Zagreb and Bjelovar-Bilogora, and cut travel time between Zagreb and Bjelovar by an hour.

Minister Butkovic added that upon the reconstruction of some railway lines and the construction of a new section between Krizevci and Dugo Selo, the travel time by train between Bjelovar and Zagreb would take less than an hour.

Butkovic said that currently €1.5 billion of investments were being implemented in the rail sector in Croatia.

(€ 1 = HRK 7.43)