Croatia and Slovenia sign agreement to improve train services under Project CONNECT2CE

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

The Croatian Railways and Slovenian Railways Management teams recently signed an agreement with the aim of improved international railways services between the two countries. The Memorandum of Understanding or MoU to improve train services has been signed within the CONNECT2CE Project.

The signing happened in the presence of Slovenia Passenger Transport Darja Kocjan, President of the Croatian Passenger Transport Management Board Željko Ukić and members of the management board Damir Rubcic and Mladen Lugaric.

The CONNECT2CE project plans to tackle the weak accessibility of the cross-border, peripheral and regional areas of central Europe. The accessibility issue has been noticed to and from the main transport hubs and networks. The reason behind the problem has been identified as the long-lasting phenomenon of urbanization.

Željko Ukić, President, Croatian Passenger Transport Management Board said in a press statement during the signing that nearly 130,000 passengers travelled via train between Croatia and Slovenia in 2019. This number alone urges the management to introduce new offers and services. He expressed the commitment to promote strategic partnerships and desire to improve the services of international trains in order to attract more passengers and generate better revenue. He believes that with little steps, proper marketing, successful communication and most importantly cooperation the business can be improved as well as the existing offer and future of transport can be positively influenced.

Darja Kocjan, Passenger Transport, Slovenia further added that with the increasing competition from road transport, railway operators need to urge more passengers to use train services as the most environment-friendly mode of transport. She emphasized how both the railway managements have been cooperating for timetables, rail promotion and special offers. She also mentioned that by joint teamwork they can strengthen railway passenger transport resulting in an increased number of users.

By signing the MoU, both the parties will work towards facilitating better quality travel and sustainable international services. One such major activity would be improving railway services between Zagreb and Ljubljana to connect the two neighbouring countries better.

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