HŽ Infrastruktura signs €677 million railway contract with Afcons Infrastructure

HŽ Infrastruktura, Croatia’s railway infrastructure manager, has signed a €677.07 million contract with India-based Afcons Infrastructure to modernize and double-track the 83-kilometer Dugo Selo–Novska line. This project represents the largest contract in the history of Croatian railways and marks Afcons Infrastructure’s first major contract within the European Union.

The Dugo Selo–Novska section is the final single-track segment on the Croatian portion of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) corridor connecting Salzburg and Thessaloniki. The modernization will increase train speeds to 160 km/h, implement ETCS Level 1 signaling, modernize four stations, and eliminate 30 level crossings.

European Union funds are expected to cover approximately 90% of the costs. While the construction contract is valued at €677.07 million, the total project budget is estimated at €898.9 million, which includes supervision services, land acquisitions, and contingency reserves. Construction is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2027 and is expected to take five years and ten months to complete.