HŽ Infrastruktura has signed a €49.4 million contract with Austrian manufacturer Plasser & Theurer to supply new special-purpose railway vehicles, part of Croatia’s ‘biggest step forward’ in decades to modernise its rail maintenance fleet. 

Under the agreement, Austria’s Plasser & Theurer will deliver nine machines to HŽ Infrastruktura within four years. These include a track levelling and alignment machine, a curtain prism cleaning machine, two machines for height and direction regulation of tracks and switches, two curtain prism planning machines, and three tipper wagons with conveyor belts.

HŽ Infrastruktura CEO Ivan Kršić called the contract “the biggest step forward in the modernisation of key machinery for the renovation and maintenance of our railway infrastructure.” He added the company is in the midst of the “largest investment wave” in its history and that “there was no doubt” that the new machinery would help make works more efficient, with passengers and freight operators set to feel improvements soon.

Plasser & Theurer director Thomas Schöpf described the signing as “an important milestone that not only sets new standards for efficiency and the application of modern technologies in the construction and railway sectors, but also sends a strong message about the importance of international cooperation.”

Part of HŽ Infrastruktura’s wider procurement

The contract is part of a wider €61.5 million procurement divided into eight groups. Plasser & Theurer won the two largest-value lots, while Croatia’s domestic firm RMT Group secured the smallest portion for small track machinery. French company Geismar submitted bids in two categories but was eliminated for failing to provide the required guarantees.

The procurement is embedded in the country’s National Railway Infrastructure Development Plan to 2030, which foresees €88.7 million in investment for vehicles and strategic machinery which are rapidly reaching the end of their life. HŽ Infrastruktura currently operates 108 rail vehicles, including 11 strategic mechanisation machines, with an average fleet age of 37 years. Twelve units earmarked for retirement in 2023 remain in use due to a lack of replacements, showing the urgency of the new deliveries.

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