Transport in Croatia
Transport in Croatia relies on several main modes, including transport by car, train, ship and plane. Road transport incorporates a comprehensive network of state, county and local routes augmented by a network of highways for long-distance travelling. Water transport can be divided into sea, based on the ports of Rijeka, Ploče, Split and Zadar, and river transport, based on Sava, Danube and, to a lesser extent, Drava. Croatia has 9 international airports and several airlines, of which the most notable are Croatia Airlines and Trade Air. Rail network is fairly developed but regarding inter-city transport , bus tends to be far more common than the rail. Air transport. Croatia counts 9 civil, 13 sport and 3 military airports. There are international civil airports in Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, Zadar, Pula, Rijeka (on the island of Krk), Osijek, Bol and Mali Lošinj. The two busiest airports in the country are the ones serving Zagreb and Split. By the end of 2010, significant investments in the renovation of Croatian airports began. New modern and spacious passenger terminals were opened in 2017 at Zagreb and Dubrovnik Airports and in 2019 at Split Airport. The new passenger terminals at Dubrovnik Airport  and Zagreb Airport are the first in Croatia to feature jet bridges. Airports that serve cities on the Adriatic coast receive the majority of the traffic during the summer season due to the large number of flights from foreign air carriers (especially low-cost) that serve these airports with seasonal flights. Croatia Airlines is the state-owned flag carrier of Croatia. It is headquartered in Zagreb and its main hub is Zagreb Airport. Croatia is connected by air with a large number of foreign (especially European) destinations, while its largest cities are interconnected by a significant number of domestic air  routes such as Zagreb-Split-Zagreb, Zagreb-Dubrovnik-Zagreb, Zagreb-Zadar-Zagreb, Osijek -Rijeka-Osijek, Osijek-Split-Osijek, Zadar-Pula-Zadar, etc. These routes are operated by domestic air carriers such as Croatia Airlines or Trade Air. Rail transport. Railway corridors. The Croatian railway network is classified into three groups: railways of international, regional and local significance. The most important railway lines follow Pan-European corridors V/branch B (Rijeka - Zagreb - Budapest) and X, which connect with each other in Zagreb. With international passenger trains, Croatia is directly connected with the majority of neighbouring (Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia) and medium-distanced  Central European countries such as Austria, Germany or Switzerland. Dubrovnik is the most populous and well known city in Croatia that is not connected with the railway, while the city of Pula (together with the rest of westernmost Istria County) can only be directly reached by railway through Slovenia (unless one takes the railway company's organized bus service between Rijeka and Lupoglav). As the most of the country's interior-based larger towns are connected with the railway (opposite to the coastal part of the country), there are many small inland towns, villages and remote areas that are served  by the trains running on regional or local corridors. Types of passenger train lines. All nationwide and commuter passenger rail services in Croatia are operated by the country’s national railway company Croatian Railways. According to schedules, there are several different ranks of passenger trains operating inside Croatia, as follows. Inter-City trains – Croatian: "Inter-City vlakovi" – Inter-City trains represent the fairly limited amount of trains in Croatia. They operate on long routes and usually serve only the largest stations along the way. Inter-City Titling trains – Croatian: "Inter City Nagibni vlakovi" (ICN) – ICN services are connecting Zagreb with  Split using tilting trains. Thanks to their tilting mechanism they can run faster than conventional trains and represent only daytime connections between Zagreb and Split, also serving decent amount of larger stations along their route. Contrary to regular overnight fast trains between Zagreb and Split with scheduled travelling time of circa 8 hours in total, tilting trains on the Zagreb–Split route (lines M202 and M604) offer passengers a faster journey with a riding time of about 6 hours. Fast trains – Croatian: "Brzi vlakovi" - Fast trains operate on medium to long distances, serving only stations in larger settlements along the  track. Their purpose is very similar to Inter City trains. Semi-fast trains – Croatian: "Ubrzani vlakovi" - Semi-fast trains operate on medium to long distances and their purpose is to serve destinations which have justified number of passengers, therefore skipping certain smaller stations which have not. Regional and local trains – Croatian: "Putnički vlakovi" (lit. "passenger trains") – Regional and local trains cover short, medium and long distances and generally serve all stations along their route, representing the largest part of passenger trains on the nationwide level. They are mainly used by local residents traveling between smaller settlements and larger centres or  railway hubs either for daily or other migrations (school, work, hospital, shopping etc.) or intention to continue their journey further (for daily migrations or other reasons), using mostly well-adjusted transfers. These trains usually have daily frequencies that meet the needs of the local population. Suburban trains – Croatian: "Prigradski vlakovi" - Suburban trains operate exclusively on the Zagreb Commuter Rail corridor and have the most frequent daily schedules above all types of train lines in Croatia. They are run by light motor sets that can be started and stopped quickly, and like the most of regional/local trains, they serve every  station along their way. On the train lines operating within areas of other larger towns, certain number of regional/local trains play the role of suburban trains. Thanks to their commuter-oriented schedules, large number of fast, semi-fast, regional and local trains offer passengers daily migration to the large city areas from more distant towns and settlements (between 50 km / 32 mi and 100 km / 62 mi.). This can, for example, refer to the railway connection of the Central Croatia's wider region with Zagreb metropolitan area. Infrastructure condition. In Croatia, railways are served by standard-gauge (1,435 mm ; 4 ft 8+⁄). Construction length of the railway network is 2617 km; 1626.12 mi. (2341 km; /1454.63 mi. of single-track corridors and 276 km / 171.49 mi. of double-track corridors). 1013 km (629.44 mi.) of railways are electrified, according to the annual rail network public report of Croatian Railways (2023 issue). The largest part of country's railway infrastructure dates back from the pre-World War II period and more than half of the core routes were, in fact, built during the Habsburg monarchy i.e. before the World War I. More on that, there were also significant lack of  investments and decrease of proper maintenance in Croatian railway infrastructure, roughly from the time of country's independence (1991) to late 2000's, which mainly resulted in slowing of permitted track speeds, increase of the riding times and decrease in the overall quality of passenger transport, especially on Inter City level. As a result, fair amount of routes lag significantly behind the West-European standards in the form of infrastructural condition. However, some major infrastructure improvements started to occur since the mid-2010's and continued through 2020's, such as construction of the first newly built railway in the country  since 1967 (L214) and full-profile reconstruction of some of the country's most important international, regional and local corridors like M101 (Zagreb - Savski Marof - Slovenian border), M102 (Zagreb - Dugo Selo), R201 (section between Zaprešić and Zabok, including electrification) etc. Those improvements, among other things, resulted in increasing of both maximum track speed and operation safety, shortening of the travel time and modernization of supporting infrastructure (stations, platforms and other equipment). The official rail speed record in Croatia is . Maximum speed reached in regular service is on parts of the Novska–Tovarnik line. Rolling stock. Most of the rolling stock  inherited from Yugoslav Railways that remained in traffic (particualry DMU's, EMU's and railroad cars) were later modernized in both exterior and interior to cope with demands of quality service in modern times, especially after 2000. In 2004 Croatian Railways introduced a series of modern tilting trains produced by the German branch of Bombardier Transportation which represented the newest part of railways' rolling stock at that time. They usually operate on the mountainous route between the two largest Croatian cities, Zagreb and Split, although they are sometimes used on other routes in the country as well. In 2011, the  modernization of the fairly outdated fleet of Croatian Railways mainly dating back from Yugoslav era officially began with the delivery of two KONČAR Group-maded prototypes of the electric train series 6112 for suburban and regional traffic. Between 2013 and 2024, Croatian Railways was supplied with a single diesel multiple unit set of 7022 series and 12 diesel multiple unit sets of the 7 023 series manufactured jointly by TŽV Gredelj and KONČAR Group together with the 54 additional electric multiple unit sets of the 6 112 series manufactured by KONČAR Group, which significantly modernized the company's rolling stock . 6 112, 7 022 and 7 023 series can be found operating on suburban, local, regional and inter-city routes. They are equipped with air-conditioning (which was later gradually installed in most of older refurbished vehicles), power outlets, ramps for wheelchair users, etc, meaning they meet most of conditions required for travel in modern times, offering passengers comfort travel. Free WiFi access is also available onboard. Road transport. From the time of Napoleon and building the Louisiana road, the road transport in Croatia has significantly improved, topping most European countries. Croatian highways are widely regarded as being one of  the most modern and safe in Europe. This is because the largest part of the Croatian motorway and expressway system ("autoceste" and "brze ceste", resp.) has been recently constructed (mainly in the 2000s), and further construction is continuing. The motorways in Croatia connect most major Croatian cities and all major seaports. The two longest routes, the A1 and the A3, span the better part of the country and the motorway network connects most major border crossings. Tourism is of major importance for the Croatian economy, and as most tourists come to vacation in Croatia in their own cars, the highways  serve to alleviate summer jams. They have also been used as a means of stimulating urgently needed economic growth, and for the sustainable development of this country. Croatia now has a considerable highway density for a country of its size, helping it cope with the consequences of being a transition economy and having suffered in the Croatian War of Independence. Some of the most impressive parts of the road infrastructure in Croatia includes the Sveti Rok and Mala Kapela tunnels on the A1 motorway, and the Pelješac Bridge in the southernmost part of the country. , Croatia has a total of  of roads. Traffic laws. The traffic signs adhere to the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals. The general speed limits are: Some of the more technical safety measures include that all new Croatian tunnels have modern safety equipment and there are several control cereers, which monitor highway traffic. Motorways. Motorways (, plural ) in Croatia applies to dual carriageway roads with at least two traffic lanes in each driving direction and an emergency lane. Direction road signs at Croatian motorways have green background with white lettering similar to the German Autobahn. The designations of motorways are "A" and the motorway number . , the Croatian motorway network is long, with additional of new motorways under construction. The list of completed motorways is as follows (see individual articles for further construction plans and status): Toll is charged on most Croatian motorways, and exceptions are the A11 motorway, Zagreb bypass and Rijeka bypass, as well as sections adjacent to border crossings (except eastbound A3). Payment is in kuna, all major credit cards and euros are accepted at all toll gates. Most motorways are covered by the closed toll collection system, where a driver receives a ticket at the entrance gates and pays at the exit  gates according to the number of sections travelled. Open toll collection is used on some bridges and tunnels and short stretches of tolled highway, where drivers immediately pay the toll upon arriving. Various forms of prepaid electronic toll collection systems are in place which allow quicker collection of toll, usually at a discounted rate, as well as use of dedicated toll plaza lanes (for "ENC system" of the electronic toll collection). All heavily traveled routes towards Slovenia, Hungary and Serbia are motorway connections, and almost all parts of Croatia are now easy to reach using motorways. Numerous service areas and  petrol stations had been constructed along all Croatian motorways. All Croatian motorways are equipped with enclosed service areas with gas stations and parking. Many areas have restaurants and children's playgrounds. Expressways. The term "brza cesta" or "expressway" refers to limited-access roads specifically designated as such by legislation and marked with appropriate limited-access road traffic signs. The expressways may comprise two or more traffic lanes, while they normally do not have emergency lanes. "Polu-autocesta" or "semi-highway" refers to a two-lane, undivided road running on one roadway of a motorway while the other is in construction . By legal definition, all semi-highways are expressways. The expressway routes in Croatia usually correspond to a state road (see below) and are marked a "D" followed by a number. The "E" numbers are designations of European routes. State roads. Major roads that aren't part of the motorway system are "državne ceste" (state routes). They are marked with the letter D and the road's number. The most traveled state routes in Croatia are: Since the construction of A1 motorway beyond Gorski kotar started, D1 and D8 are much less used. These routes are monitored by Croatian roadside assistance  because they connect important locations. Like all state routes outside major cities, they are only two-lane arterials and do not support heavy traffic. All state routes are routinely maintained by Croatian road authorities. The road sign for a state route has a blue background and the route's designation in white. State routes have one, two or three-digit numbers. County roads and minor roads. Secondary routes are known as county roads. They are marked with signs with yellow background and road number. These roads' designations are rarely used, but usually marked on regional maps if these roads are  shown. Formally, their designation is the letter Ž and the number. County roads have four-digit numbers. The least known are the so-called local roads. Their designations are never marked on maps or by roadside signs and as such are virtually unknown to public. Their designations consist of the letter L and a five-digit number. Bus traffic. Buses represent the most-accepted, cheapest and widely used means of public transport. National bus traffic is very well developed - from express buses that cover longer distances to bus connections between the smallest villages in the country, therefore it's very  easy to reach even the remotest parts of Croatia by bus on a daily basis. Every larger town usually has a bus station with the ticket office(s) and timetable information. Buses that run on national lines in Croatia (owned and run by private companies) are comfortable and modern-equipped vehicles, featuring air-conditioning and offering pleasant traveling comfort. National bus travel is generally divided in inter-city ("Međugradski prijevoz"), inter-county ("Međužupanijski prijevoz") and county (local; "Županijski prijevoz") transport. Although there can be bus companies whose primary goal is to serve inter-city lines, a certain bus company can - and  most of them usually do - operate all or most of the above mentioned modes of transport. Buses on inter-city level usually offer far more frequent daily services and shorter riding time than trains, mostly due to the large amount of competing companies and great quality of the country's freeway network. According to timetables of bus companies, there are several types of inter-city bus lines. Some lines run directly on the highway to connect certain cities by the shortest route. Other lines run on lower-ranked roads (all the way or part of the way) even when there  is a highway alternative, to connect settlements along the way, while some lines run on the highway and sometimes (one time or more) temporarily exit it to serve some smaller settlement nearby, thus giving the opportunity to a certain smaller settlement to be connected by express service. Buses on county lines usually run between larger cities or towns in a particular county, connecting towns and smaller villages along the way. These buses are mostly used by local residents - daily students or workers and occasional passengers, so the timetables and line frequencies of these bus routes are mostly adjusted according to  the needs of local daily migrations. Since there is no bus terminal in smaller villages, passengers buy a ticket from the driver while boarding the bus, unless they have a monthly student or worker pass, in which case they must validate it each time they board the vehicle. Buses running on inter-county lines usually have the same or very similar purpose, except they cross county borders to transport passengers to the more distanced larger town or area. There are many international bus routes from Croatia to the neighboring countries (Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Hungary) and to other European  countries. International bus services correspond to European standards. Zagreb has the largest and bussiest bus terminal in Croatia. It is located near the downtown in Trnje district on the Marin Držić Avenue. The bus terminal is close to the main railway station and it is easy to reach by tram lines and by car. Maritime and river transport. Maritime transport. Coastal infrastructure. Republic of Croatia counts six ports open for public traffic of outstanding (international) economic importance and those are the ports: Rijeka, Zadar, Šibenik, Split, Ploče and Dubrovnik. There are also numerous smaller public ports located along the country 's coast. Rijeka is the country's largest cargo port, followed by Ploče which is of great economic importance for the neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina. The three most common destinations for foreign cruise ships are the ports of Dubrovnik, Split and Zadar. Split is the country's largest passenger port, serving as the public port for domestic ferry, conventional ship and catamaran services as well as for international ferry, cruise or mega cruise services. Zadar has two public transport ports opened for passenger traffic – one located in the town center served by conventional ship and catamaran services and the other  located in the suburb of Gaženica, serving ferry and cruise ship services. Republic of Croatia defined the need to relieve the Zadar's passenger port and the historic center of Zadar and move ferry traffic from the city center to the new passenger port in Gaženica. Work on the construction of the new port began in 2009, and a new ferry port of approximately 100,000 square meters was opened to traffic in 2015. The advantages of the Port of Gaženica are the short distance from the city center (3.5 kilometers), the proximity of the airport and quality traffic connection with  the A1 Motorway. The Port of Gaženica meets multiple traffic requirements - it serves for domestic ferry traffic, international ferry traffic, passenger traffic on mega cruisers and cruisers and RO-RO traffic, with all the necessary infrastructure and accompanying upgrades. In 2019, the passenger port of Gaženica was named Port of the Year at the most prestigious Seatrade Cruise Awards held in Hamburg. Connection of islands and the mainland. Performing of the public transport on national conventional ship, catamaran and ferry lines and all occasional public maritime lines in Croatia is supervised by the government-founded Agency for coastal line traffic  ("Agencija za obalni linijski promet"). Croatia has about 50 inhabited islands along its coast (most of which are reached from either Zadar or Split ports), which means that there is a large number of local car ferry, conventional ship and catamaran connections. The vast majority of Croatian islands have a road network and several ports for public transport - usually a single ferry port and one or more additional ports mostly located near the bay settlements, served exclusively by conventional ships and catamarans. According to sailing schedules or in case of extraordinary conditions, conventional and catamaran ships can also serve ferry  ports. There are also very small number of car-free islands that are accessible only by conventional ship or catamaran services, such as Silba in northern Dalmatia. Regarding national ferry lines, in the lead terms of the number of transported passengers and vehicles are the one between Split and Supetar on the island of Brač (central Dalmatia) and one between Valbiska (island of Krk) and Merag (island of Cres) in northern Kvarner Gulf. Ferry line between Zadar and Preko on the island of Ugljan (northern Dalmatia) is the most frequent one in Croatia and the rest of the Adriatic - in  the summer sailing schedule on this 3 nautical mile long line (5.5 km / 3.45 mi) there is around 20 departures per day in each direction. The longest ferry line in Croatia is Zadar - Ist - Olib - Silba (passenger service only) - Premuda - Mali Lošinj (63.4 nautical miles; 117.4 km / 72.9 mi.), while the shortest one is between Biograd na Moru and Tkon on the island of Pašman (1.4 nautical miles; 2,6 km / 1.6 mi.), both operating in northern Dalmatia. Almost all ferry lines in Croatia are provided by the state-owned shipping company Jadrolinija (included in the list of the world's  top 10 passenger shipping companies), except the ferry service between Stinica and Mišnjak on the island of Rab (Kvarner Gulf area) which is operated by the company “Rapska Plovidba d.d”. Catamaran and passenger ship services are operated by Jadrolinija and several other companies such as "Krilo - Kapetan Luka" , "G&V Line Iadera" , "Tankerska Plovidba d.d." , "Miatours d.o.o." etc. Jadrolinija alone provides a total of 34 national lines with almost 600 departures per day during the summer tourist season, when the number of ferry, conventional ship and catamaran lines on the most capacity-demanding routes is significantly higher compared to the off -season period. International routes. With its largest vessels, Jadrolinija connects Croatia with Italy by operating international cross-Adriatic routes Split - Ancona - Split, Zadar - Ancona - Zadar and Dubrovnik - Bari - Dubrovnik. Ferry line between Split and Ancona is also operated by Italian operator SNAV. Vessels. Most ferries sailing on Croatian national lines are, among other things, equipped with modern navigation/safety equipment and luxurious enclosed air-conditioned longues for passengers. From 2004 to 2018, a total of 13 new ferries were built in Croatian shipyards, all of which sail on national local lines - 12 are owned by Jadrolinija, and one is owned  by Rapska Plovidba. In addition to these ferries, Jadrolinija has a large number of ferries purchased on foreign markets (used and reconstructed/refurbished) or built in Croatian shipyards during the time of Yugoslavia. All ferries are equipped with hydraulic ramps for loading/unloading of vehicles. Older ferries are usually smaller in size,have capacities that vary from 200 to 700 passengers and from 30 to 70 cars per vessel. They sail on lines connecting less populated islands or on lines connecting ports located in shallower bays in parts of the islands that are located very close to the mainland. Ferries  built in more recent times (after 2000, either in Croatia or abroad) have a significantly higher capacity which range from 600 to 1200 passengers and from 100 to 200 cars per vessel, mostly sailing on the country's most frequent and/or busiest local lines, such as Valbiska - Merag (Kvarner Gulf area), Zadar - Preko, Zadar - Brbinj (Zadar Archipelago area), Split - Supetar, Split - Stari Grad, Split - Vela Luka - Ubli (Split Archipelago) etc. The three largest Croatian ships sailing on international routes were built abroad and later bought by Jadrolinija as used vessels: "Marko Polo" (built in 1972 and bought in 1988), "Dubrovnik  (built in 1979 and bought in 1996) and Zadar" (built in 1993 and bougt in 2004). Each of these three ships has a capacity of about 1000 passengers and about 300 vehicles and offer a variety of additional facilities such as self-service restaurants, sleeping cabins, cafes, children's playrooms, etc. Catamarans and passenger ships sailing on Croatian national lines are relatively small vessels mostly built in foreign shipyards. Capacity varies from vessel to vessel, and generally ranges from 200 to 400 passengers per ship. They are equipped with air-conditioned passenger lounges on one or two levels, cafe service , luggage space, etc. Croatian shipping companies have a wide range of catamarans - from those built in the late 1980’s to the most modern built in 2010’s with the latest technical advances in the navigation system. Passenger ships were mostly built in the late 1980s or early 1990s (except for a very small number of still active Jadrolinija passenger ships built in Croatian shipyards during Yugoslavia, ie in the late 1950s and early 1960s). All passenger ships also have a covered deck with seats, like the ferry vessels. River transport. Croatia is also on the important Danube waterway which  connects Eastern and Central Europe. The major Danube port is Vukovar, but there are also some smaller ports in Osijek, Sisak and Slavonski Brod. Navigable rivers: Total waterway length (2021): 534.7 km Pipelines. The projected capacity of the oil pipeline is 34 million tons of oil per year, and the installed 20 million tons of oil per year. The system was built for the needs of refineries in Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as users in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The total capacity of the storage space today is 2,100,000 m3 for crude oil  and 242,000 m3 for petroleum products. The pipeline is long and it is fully controlled by JANAF. The system consists of: reception and dispatch Terminal Omišalj on the island of Krk, with two berths for tankers and storage space for oil and derivatives, receiving and dispatching terminals in Sisak, Virje and Slavonski Brod with oil storage space at the Sisak and Virje terminals, Žitnjak Terminal in Zagreb, for storage of petroleum products with railway and truck transfer stations for delivery, reception and dispatch of derivatives. Natural gas is transported by Plinacro, which operates of the transmission system in 19 counties , with more than 450 overhead transmission system facilities, including a compressor station and 156 metering and reduction stations through which gas is delivered to system users. The system houses the Okoli underground storage facility with a working volume of 553 million cubic meters of natural gas. Public transport. Public transport within the most of the largest cities (and their suburbs) in Croatia is mostly provided by the city buses owned and operated by various municipal organizations such as Zagrebački električni tramvaj in Zagreb, Promet Split in Split, "Autotrolej" d.o.o." in Rijeka, "Liburnija Zadar" in Zadar, "Gradski Prijevoz Putnika d.o.o." in  Osijek, etc. In addition to city buses, the cities of Zagreb and Osijek have tram networks. Tram lines in Zagreb are operated by Zagrebački električni tramvaj, while the tram lines in Osijek are operated by "Gradski Prijevoz Putnika d.o.o.". Tram network in the capital city of Zagreb is, however, far more extensive than the one in Osijek.