Zagreb to get new tram route

The Croatian capital Zagreb will get a new tram route with the construction of a 3700-metre long tram line from Ulica kralja Zvonimira to Savišće. 

After more than a decade of promises and seven years since the project’s inception, there has been a significant breakthrough in the construction of new tram lines in the capital, Daily Večernji list reports, with documentation currently being prepared.

The tracks may soon be laid in Heinzelova Street, pending successful completion of all necessary procedures. Recently, an open public procurement process was completed for the development of project and technical documentation for the new 3700-metre section, which will stretch from Ulica kralja Zvonimira, through Heinzelova and Radnička Street, all the way to the Savišće turnaround.

The documentation preparation also includes obtaining all the required permits and is estimated to cost approximately half a million euros. One joint bid was received from three bidders: Rencon from Osijek, Geoprojekt from Split, and the Zagreb Engineering Project Institute, Večernji list reported. 

They will prepare the necessary paperwork, according to the proposed contract drafted by the city administration. The documents are expected to be ready within five months. 

Once everything is confirmed on paper, the search for contractors and construction can commence, promising a faster timeline, as per the city authorities’ announcement.

The planned construction consists of a double-track line with an overhead contact system and a rectifier station. The project aims to implement new track construction solutions with simple and rapid installation, increased durability, reduced noise, and easier maintenance, as stated by the city administration last spring. 

Additionally, the plan involves reconstructing the sewerage system built between 1920 and 1950 along the route. The Zagreb Electric Tram (ZET) also provided its guidelines on how the new tram line should look.

The public transportation provider proposes a two-stage construction approach. The first stage is from Vukovarska Street to Savišće, where Line 2 would operate until the second stage is completed from Vukovarska to Zvonimirova. Nine two-way stops are planned along the nearly four-kilometre route. Following the guidelines, the extended Line 1 will run on the new tracks, which currently operates from Zapadni kolodvor to Borongaj, but will soon divert from Zvonimirova to Heinzelova and continue on the new route.

ZET plans to deploy eight trams, which will run daily at an average frequency of one tram every 10 minutes. Among the other ongoing projects of new tram lines, the closest to realization is the approximately two-kilometre track from the Zapruđe turnaround, along Sarajevska cesta, to Ranžirni kolodvor.

Next year, the contractor for the construction will be selected, and they will lay the tracks within 12 months of signing the contract, at a cost of 20 million euros. The new tracks will also be used by the 20 new trams from Končar, as a contract was signed last spring for their procurement. 

These new trams are expected to start operating in the streets of the metropolis in the spring of 2025. In the meantime, the tram fleet will be supported by ten used trams, the procurement of which was finalised a few days ago through an international public tender. The plan is for the first used trams to arrive as early as this autumn.