Croatia Airlines experienced its biggest month in July with the transportation of over 193,000 passengers.

Figures continue to grow for the popular airlines. Last weekend was its biggest ever with over 23,500 passengers. Last Saturday the record was also broken for the largest number of passengers flying CA in any given day in its history with a total of 8,900.

Its expected this year that more than 1.6 million passengers will have flown with Croatian Airlines.

http://www.vecernji-list.hr/system/galleries/pics/050802/avion.jpg

Rekordan broj putnika Croatije Airlinesa

Srpanj je bio rekordan za Croatiju Airlines u čak tri prometna pokazatelja. Prošloga je mjeseca u zrakoplovima CA prevezeno više od 193.000 putnika.
Tako je za više od 5000 putnika premašen dosadašnji rekordni mjesec, lanjski srpanj. Proteklog vikenda u zrakoplovima CA letjelo je gotovo 23.500 putnika, što je rekordan rezultat. U prošlu subotu prevezeno je više od 8900 putnika, što je najviše putnika u jednome danu u povijesti tvrtke. CA ove godine očekuje oko 1,600.000 putnika. (J.Bo.)

http://www.vecernji-list.hr/newsroom/economics/346072/index.do

We've all discussed this before about the need for year round tourism in Croatia. :yes: Slowly but surely this is beginning to happen. The duration of the season previously centred around 3 months, mostly summer.

Signs are showing that this year in Istria the season will be about 5 months long and this is becoming a tell tale sign for Dalmatia too. The season has been consistently full too.

Part of the this is due to the motorways providing quicker access to the coast. This is developing weekend tourism for many people in nearby countries.

There is also the mention about low cost airlines and how they can open up tourism markets in off peak periods ....

Turističke sezone trajat će osam mjeseci! (http://www.vjesnik.hr/html/2005/08/03/)

http://www.vjesnik.hr/html/2005/08/03/boll4.jpg

ICN's are regional tilting trains, they are not built for Intercity traffic, ICE-T would be taking over running the Intercity Service, covering all major cities in Croatia, they are better than ICN's for this particular use, as they are more comfortable and can carry more passengers, true ICN's achieve speed same as ICE-T but what ICN's lack is comfort and passenger capacity...

And ICE-T can also be used in international traffic, say going to Budapest or Vienna... And in my opinion ICE-T' looks way cooler, lol...

Croatia doesn't need 40-50 of them, 8-10 would suffice just fine to ce how all this goes, service is very successful more trains can be ordered..

2 for Zagreb Split, 2 for Zagreb Rijeka, 2 for Zagreb Osijek, 2 could used in international (intercity) use to bring tourist from Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech R and Poland primarily as a charter service where HTZ organises these trains to pick up 300 or so passengers and brings them to the Adriatic...... Call it charter, and if need be regular service can be established if service is so successful that warrants the demand...

dude its spooky how much i agree with this msg, lol

Serbia-Croatia co-operation:okay: ;)
Croatian bomb experts to help clear leftover NATO bombs in Serbia's second city of Nis.
===========================

Hrvati čiste Niš od NATO bombi

ZAGREB - Hrvatski pirotehničari zagrebačke firme „Dok-Ing“ krajem nedelje odlaze u Srbiju i Crnu Goru, gde će od NATO bombi čistiti Niš, piše zagrebački „Večernji list“.

Prema rečima Josipa Tuličića, direktora „Dok-Inga“, ova zagrebačka kompanija je na konkursu koji je raspisao Medunarodni fond za razminiranje i pomoć žrtvama mina (ITF) dobila dva projekta na području Niša. Na teritoriji ovog grada NATO avioni su 12. maja 1999. godine bacili kasetne bombe.

- U Nišu se radi o površini od 300.000 kvadratnih metara koje treba pregledati za 50 dana. Mi ćemo raditi kao vođe grupa i instruktori u smenema, a posao razminiranja obavljaće, ipak, pirotehničari iz Srbije i BiH - rekao je Hrvoje Radočaj, koji će kao rukovodilac gradilišta voditi u Niš prvu grupu hrvatskih stručnjaka.

Izbor pirotehničara sproveden je na dobrovoljnoj bazi s obzirom na to da je većina aktivno učestvovala u takozvanom domovinskom ratu.

We've all discussed this before about the need for year round tourism in Croatia. :yes: Slowly but surely this is beginning to happen. The duration of the season previously centred around 3 months, mostly summer.

Signs are showing that this year in Istria the season will be about 5 months long and this is becoming a tell tale sign for Dalmatia too. The season has been consistently full too.

Part of the this is due to the motorways providing quicker access to the coast. This is developing weekend tourism for many people in nearby countries.

There is also the mention about low cost airlines and how they can open up tourism markets in off peak periods ....

Turističke sezone trajat će osam mjeseci! (http://www.vjesnik.hr/html/2005/08/03/)

http://www.vjesnik.hr/html/2005/08/03/boll4.jpg

That's terrific news :)
Just too bad the first pair of boobs in the pic is way too flat :D lol

anyways, if they really manage to extend the season from 3 to 8, or at least to 6 months, that would be considered a great success, and would have a possitive domino effect on domestic economy :)
It could be done by doing more promotion of continental Croatia, too, there in inland parts is a bunch of undiscovered natural beauties (besides Plitvice lol) and cultural treasures - heritage. Eco-tourism also has a great potentional, and it's finaly time for it to leave its roots in Croatian tourism. Austria and Slovenia are great examples of it :)

:cheers:

HOw about ski resorts? Any good ones, or promising ones that need a little more development? Serbia's bets are on Kopaonik which is becoming more and more popular with British tourists and some others will be developed soon.

Serbia-Croatia co-operation:okay: ;)
Croatian bomb experts to help clear leftover NATO bombs in Serbia's second city of Nis.
===========================

Hrvati čiste Niš od NATO bombi

ZAGREB - Hrvatski pirotehničari zagrebačke firme „Dok-Ing“ krajem nedelje odlaze u Srbiju i Crnu Goru, gde će od NATO bombi čistiti Niš, piše zagrebački „Večernji list“.

Prema rečima Josipa Tuličića, direktora „Dok-Inga“, ova zagrebačka kompanija je na konkursu koji je raspisao Medunarodni fond za razminiranje i pomoć žrtvama mina (ITF) dobila dva projekta na području Niša. Na teritoriji ovog grada NATO avioni su 12. maja 1999. godine bacili kasetne bombe.

- U Nišu se radi o površini od 300.000 kvadratnih metara koje treba pregledati za 50 dana. Mi ćemo raditi kao vođe grupa i instruktori u smenema, a posao razminiranja obavljaće, ipak, pirotehničari iz Srbije i BiH - rekao je Hrvoje Radočaj, koji će kao rukovodilac gradilišta voditi u Niš prvu grupu hrvatskih stručnjaka.

Izbor pirotehničara sproveden je na dobrovoljnoj bazi s obzirom na to da je većina aktivno učestvovala u takozvanom domovinskom ratu.

Ak su sudjelovali u domovinskom ratu, mozda vam i zaborave par metara ocisititi, tj. ostave koju minu kasnije za pocastiti se ;) :jk:

Inace, kaj je 'obavljace' ? Obavljati ce ? Nisam znal da se kod vas to pise skupa.

:cheers:

HOw about ski resorts? Any good ones, or promising ones that need a little more development? Serbia's bets are on Kopaonik which is becoming more and more popular with British tourists and some others will be developed soon.

Medvednice mountains right behind Zagreb. We held a world ski cup there in January this year ..... There are hotels and lodges up there. But its still growing.

HOw about ski resorts? Any good ones, or promising ones that need a little more development? Serbia's bets are on Kopaonik which is becoming more and more popular with British tourists and some others will be developed soon.

There are some good ski resorts like 'Olimpijski centar Bjelolasica', it's got a well developed infrastructure and everything, but Austria and Italy are way too close and offer a whole lot better ski resorts, even Slovenia that has invested a lot in its ski resorts, can beverly compete with those two. So i guess, ski resorts arent any of Croatia's tourist attributes, maybe theyll become in 20-30 years lol.

:cheers:

Medvednice mountains right behind Zagreb. We held a world ski cup there in January this year ..... There are hotels and lodges up there. But its still growing.

Sljeme, je istina, ima super potencijal, no staze su prekratke kaj moze pogodavati samo za amatersko skijanje, rekreaciju i eventualno odrzavanje nekih natjecanja. No pravi profesionalci skijasi traze staze od duljine 6-7-8 km, kakve u nasem susjedstvu moze samo Austrija i eventualno Italija ponuditi. Mislim da cak i Slovenija ima jednu stazu od 7 ili 8 km, no nisam ziher, trebalo bi provjeriti.

:cheers:

Ak su sudjelovali u domovinskom ratu, mozda vam i zaborave par metara ocisititi, tj. ostave koju minu kasnije za pocastiti se ;) :jk:



nemoj izazivat vraga, možda netko od tih ljudi čita forum, pa si mu dao ideju! :D

Inace, kaj je 'obavljace' ? Obavljati ce ? Nisam znal da se kod vas to pise skupa.


Koliko ja znam, u srpskom jeziku futur I piše se skupa (onako kako se i izgovara, "po Vuku", rekli bi u HR), dakle: pisaću, govoriću, biću itd, dok u hrvatskom ide infinitiv + prezent glagola hoću (odvojeno): pisat ću, govorit ću, bit ću itd.

edit

More about new locos!

One forumer from www.zeljeznice.net (http://www.zeljeznice.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=194&start=30) sent few questions to HŽ and they answered (Oh, my God, what happened to them? They answered!) I copied-pasted their answers:

1. Tijekom 14 dana testirana je jedna višesustavna lokomotiva ES64F4 010 vlasništvo tvrtke Siemens Dispolok, a dva dana imali smo test vožnje s dvije lokomotive u tandemu (ES64F4 010 i ES64F4 009). Tijekom test vožnje dviju lokomotiva obavljene 12.7.2005. na relaciji Bakar-Škrljevo-Moravice-Zagreb mjerene su vrijednosti utjecaja na signalne i telekomunikacijske kablove uz prugu. Uočen je povišen utjecaj na signalne kablove duž pruge. Verifikacija rezultata još nije dovršena. No za očekivati je daljnja detaljnija ispitivanja utjecaja lokomotive na signalno-sigurnosne uređaje prije eventualne nabavke takvih lokomotiva ili donošenja odluke o dugoročnom najmu. Glede vučnih svojstava lokomotiva ES64F4 je ispunila naša očekivanja. Jaka četveroosovinska lokomotiva je sposobna za samostalnu vuču vlakova mase do 650 t na najtežoj dionici Škrljevo-Drivenik.
2. Uočeni nedostaci će se temeljito izanalizirati. Ukoliko budu potrebne prilagodbe na infrastrukturi to će obaviti HŽ, a ako se nedostaci odnose na lokomotive to će morati riješiti proizvođač ukoliko se lokomotive budu koristile na HŽ. O konkretnim mjerama za sada se ne može ništa reći.
3. Lokomotiva ES64F4 010 je testirana 0d 30.6. do 12.7.2005 na 37 teretnih vlakova i na 4 brza vlaka isključivo na mreži elektrificiranoj sustavom 3 kV.
4. Kupovina višesustavnih lokomotiva dolazi u obzir ako NO HŽ usvoji Plan investicija 2005-2009. To znači da bi natječaj za nabavku lokomotiva mogao biti raspisan u 2006. godini.

I'm glad they responded to his e-mail. Shows that HŽ is slowly opening to the "common" public.

So it's up to Croatian railways Board of Directors:

Božidar Kalmeta, Minister of the Sea, Tourism, Transport and Development
Marina Matulović-Dropulić, Minister of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction
Ivan Šuker, Minister of Finance
Dražen Breglec, State Secretary for Traffic
Ante Babić, State Secretary for development strategy
Anton Kovačev, President of the Managing Board, Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR)
Nenad Mrgan, president of Railroad Engineer Trade Union of Croatia

Does anybody have their mobile phone numbers. We can call and ask "Striček, bute kupili one lokomotive?":jk:

Trains and trams are making their big comeback everywhere :) ! I belive that trains will be the future of the long-travel mostely because of the economic and ecological resons but also because of the constant fear of terrorism...

As for the Croatian ICN (Intercity Nagibni) I agree they are nothing else but a better version of the existing local and broader-local-area DMU (DMV) trains or "šinobus-es" as we call them (production name: Macosa). That is because they are constructed for local traffic. When you go from Osijek to Zagreb by ICN it's ok but going from ZG to Split is hard. On that line it would be better to use some kind of ICE trains.

Tourist charter trains from EU to Croatia should be standard train sets and not DMU/EMUs because people want to bring a bike, a car, a pet... Offcourse they should be very good train sets.

It's a pitty CROTram won't be able to build a new DMU/EMU for Croatian Railways any time soon but they are certanly able to do that because Koncar used to make EMU's untill the Sarajevo Winter Olimpics. The electric train sets that operate localy beteween Zagreb and Sisak (I belive) are Koncar's product.

Und btw, does anyone know what happen' to the blue DMU that used to operate from Osijek to Zagreb up untill few years ago on the "podravska pruga" line called "Podravka express". Today the same name has the classic train set. I will post it's picture tomorrow. It was most probably also made by Koncar.

ok ok, plz, no one yell, but can someone give me an example of a cement railway? up above, it was mentioned that that ICE-CUBE :lol: train thing needs a cement railway. does anyone have a pic of a cement railway?

:cheers:

ok ok, plz, no one yell, but can someone give me an example of a cement railway? up above, it was mentioned that that ICE-CUBE :lol: train thing needs a cement railway. does anyone have a pic of a cement railway?

:cheers:

lol, you are funny, lol, ICE-T doesn’t need (it is called HST) High speed train line (rails)… It is ok normal lines it is tilting train, you don’t have anything like that in USA, and closest would be Amtrak High Speed LA- Chicago Service… ICE3 requires HST only if it where to go faster than 240kmph… In Croatia it is hardly the case, well in Europe, UK, France, Belgium, Sweden, Holland, Spain and Italy got HST rails, it gives you an idea how rare this is. Japan and South Korea are other countries who use HST rails as well…

http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/de/electric/emu/ICE/ICE-3/misc/20030103010.jpg

http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/de/electric/emu/ICE/ICE-3/misc/ICE3_NBS-passingnear.jpg

daaaaaaang thats fast.....

if you ask me, given our exclusivity and might in the region, and large dependance on tourism for survival, i think its fitting for croatia to make its main RR arteries HST-compliant. First of all, that would give countries way bigger/richer than us (uhh hello? Germans, swiss, and Osterreichers) something to be embarassed over, how they got outclassed by a country half as rich and 20 times smaller than them.

we have a-class highways, we should now get a-class railroads. its the livelihood of our tourims industry we're dealing with here.

It's a pitty CROTram won't be able to build a new DMU/EMU for Croatian Railways any time soon but they are certanly able to do that because Koncar used to make EMU's untill the Sarajevo Winter Olimpics. The electric train sets that operate localy beteween Zagreb and Sisak (I belive) are Koncar's product.



No, Končar (nor any other Croatian company) never used to produce EMU's. Only Đuro Đaković used to produse DMU's (Macosa model) back in 80's.
EMU's which operate between Zagreb and Sisak were produced by Hungarian company Ganz in Budapest, they were only reconstucted in Končar and Gredelj.
But I believe Končar could produce new EMU trains, it isnt a technical problem. But they wont produce it if Zagreb or HŽ don't order lets say 50 trains. Nobody makes prototype (which is very expensive) if only 5 or 10 trains are ordered.

I think Croatian Railways have decent stock of EMU’s and DMU’s I mean it is not best in the world, but nothing be ashamed off,

Ganz built commuter EMU’
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hr/electric/emu/6111-013-aab-01.jpg

French Built (70’s)
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hr/electric/emu/hz6011016sa.jpg


German Built (70’s)
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hr/diesel/dmu/7021/brzi_vlak_zagreb_gk.jpg

Could be French Built as well, (70's) Correct me if I am wrong,
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hr/diesel/dmu/7121/Varazdin/7121-107-108-asa-01.jpg

Swedish Railways (mid 80’s)
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hr/diesel/dmu/7122/7122-031-AA01.jpg

Bombardier ICN’s late (90’s early 2000’s)
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hr/diesel/dmu/7123/7123-011-012-axa-11.jpg

In all about 150 DMU's and EMU's in service, if all replaced (with the exception of ICN's) Croatia would need to cuff up about 500 million US$... I think these are fine for few more years... :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

No, mic, this one is polish made ;)
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hr/electric/emu/hz6011016sa.jpg

this one was made in Slavonski Brod by Đuro Đaković
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hr/diesel/dmu/7121/Varazdin/7121-107-108-asa-01.jpg

thanx, I wasn’t sure for none of them even German’s train sets form 70’s, I don’t know if they are German, Only of Swedish train sets I am 100% sure of…

This Croatian DMU’s look fine to me, what’s wrong with them? Why HZ didn’t order these way back instead of importing from Poland and who knows where…

everything is ok with HR DMU's, they are just too old and they are not being produced since 80's ;)
I dont know why they even renovate that old crap, with that money they could buy new trains. Last year they paid 27 million kunas for renovation of 3 EMU's. Can you believe that? 27 millions for 3 trains! :rant:

wow, than I agree, new trains should be ordered, I think if Koncar can create innovative and great design for new EMU's and price can be bellow 3 million US per unit, it would be great idea for them to build say 100 new EMU's and 50 new DMU's... Say 500 million US$ should be spent on this or 3billion Kuna, of course over 5-10 years...

I agree Croatian DMU's are good for at least 5 to 10 more years but untill then Crotram must find a way to deliver new trains and more tram models if they want to survive in the bussiness world.

This train for which you say was built by Ganz was also made by Koncar Ellok (there's a picture on their web site of the last one built for the Sarajevo Olimpics) maybe they had a licence for it.

http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hr/electric/emu/6111-013-aab-01.jpg



This DMU used to operate between Osijek and Zagreb up untill late 90's - where is it now? Does anyone know? It was a fine train, very comfortable. Imagine how nice it would look standing beside the ICN train in Osijek's Railway Station!

German Built (70’s)
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hr/diesel/dmu/7021/brzi_vlak_zagreb_gk.jpg



Could be French Built as well, (70's) Correct me if I am wrong, -

This one is The Macosa train (originally from Spain). The first model of this train was modernised in 2004 and they are very comfortable and nicely re-designed inside.

http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hr/diesel/dmu/7121/Varazdin/7121-107-108-asa-01.jpg

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/4711/brzivlakzagrebgk5xa.jpg
This DMU used to operate between Osijek and Zagreb up untill late 90's - where is it now? Does anyone know? It was a fine train, very comfortable. Imagine how nice it would look standing beside the ICN train in Osijek's Railway Station!Here's your answer. http://www.zeljeznice.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=170 :cheers1:

Here's their EMU. You can look it up under koncar.hr/reference

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/4690/658elvlakoviv2if.jpg

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/1731/660elvlakovi1v7ky.jpg

Here's your answer. http://www.zeljeznice.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=170 :cheers1:

So they say the last 2 are on the ZG-VŽ line and not in a good shape. That's sad. It used to be different "in my day's"... :cheers:

esseker, can you provide me link direct to references for this train on Končars site? i cant find it.

there's no direct link, it keep's displaying only www.koncar.hr no matter where I go on their site. Maybe you must choose the Hrvatski language option. that's how I saw it.

then choose Reference and Vlakovi

Thanks, I found it. But there is not any information that they produced the train. I still believe they only reconstructed old Ganz's EMU. I know that some HŽ's EMU's were reconstructed in Končar last year.

Many "Macosa" DMU trains were reconstructed by Gredelj in 2004 and 2005 and Ganz EMU's too. Every day on my way to college i use the new DMU's and
I am satisfied with the new look but I have heard people complained about the new EMU's especially the lack of chairs.

I was trying to find the infos about that Koncar's EMU but there aren't any. I know I red last year right there on their web site that this one on the pic was constructed for Sarajevo but they must had recnstructed the web site and removed that information. Still maybe it was built by licence from Ganz.

Djeco, sretan vam Dan pobjede i domovinske zahvalnosti! :cheers:

Hvala LF :)
I ja se od srca pridruzujem cestitkama za ovaj, jedan od najvaznijih povijesnih trenutaka Hrvatske drzave i njezinog naroda, Dan s kojim su tocno prije deset godina, MIR i SLOBODA konacno zakoracili u Lijepu nasu - Hrvatsku!

:cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

Well done and many thanks to those that 10 years ago to this day sacrificed their lives for a liberated Croatia! :cheers: Peace. :cheers:

I think Croatian Railways have decent stock of EMU’s and DMU’s I mean it is not best in the world, but nothing be ashamed off,

Ganz built commuter EMU’
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hr/electric/emu/6111-013-aab-01.jpg

French Built (70’s)
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hr/electric/emu/hz6011016sa.jpg


German Built (70’s)
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hr/diesel/dmu/7021/brzi_vlak_zagreb_gk.jpg

Could be French Built as well, (70's) Correct me if I am wrong,
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hr/diesel/dmu/7121/Varazdin/7121-107-108-asa-01.jpg

Swedish Railways (mid 80’s)
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hr/diesel/dmu/7122/7122-031-AA01.jpg

Bombardier ICN’s late (90’s early 2000’s)
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hr/diesel/dmu/7123/7123-011-012-axa-11.jpg

In all about 150 DMU's and EMU's in service, if all replaced (with the exception of ICN's) Croatia would need to cuff up about 500 million US$... I think these are fine for few more years... :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

mike my man, sry, no offense, but if Croatian trains are this badly tagged with grafitti, that alone is something to be ashamed of. if these trains were maintained perfectly, that WOULD be a testament to croatian railways. but right now, letting ANY one see trains this dilapidated is, pardon my afghani, fuckin terrbile.

Hvala LF :)
I ja se od srca pridruzujem cestitkama za ovaj, jedan od najvaznijih povijesnih trenutaka Hrvatske drzave i njezinog naroda, Dan s kojim su tocno prije deset godina, MIR i SLOBODA konacno zakoracili u Lijepu nasu - Hrvatsku!

:cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

Nadam se da ste svi gledali sinoćnju emisiju Deset olujnih godina, da se malo prisjetite ;)
btw jel možeš lovit HTV-ov satelit u Michiganu?

BTW i have stolen your signature, just for today! ;)

^^^ nemam satelit, jer ne smijem nikaj stavljati na krov, ehh ti zakoni :D...tako da sam samo podredjen tv prijenosu prek neta :)

Nisam gledal nikakvu emisiju o Oluji zbog prisjecanja, bilo mi je dovoljno osobno iskusiti osvetnicke (zabranjene) 'zvoncice' stotinjak metara od moje zgrade u Zagrebu. :(

:cheers:

ja mogu u SF, imam DirecTV satellite service, i za malo vise para mozes geldati koji god kanal zelis. Samo ovaj moj tata ne zeli kupiti HRvatske kanale, pitaj boga zasto.... :|

^^^ nemam satelit, jer ne smijem nikaj stavljati na krov, ehh ti zakoni :D...tako da sam samo podredjen tv prijenosu prek neta :)


:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Ajde ponovi ovo još jednom da se nasmijem zakonima "najdemokratskije" zemlje na svijetu! :lol:

Zabranjeno je montiranje satelitskih tanjura na krov, jer to navodno nagrdjuje izgled kako moje kuce, tako i cijelog kompleksa. Doduse pojedinci se ne pridrzavaju 'zakona', ali se i izlazu riziku lol.

BTW, bas gledam 'show' na netu :)

:cheers:

Hi everyone,
I just returned from our beloved land... I cannot avoid feeling a bit nostalgic leaving all that beauty behind. At the same time, I am very happy with the results achieved regarding my real estate business. I found great people who are willing to work and help Croatia head in the right direction. New regulations regarding construction will hopefully be ready by the end of the year. However, it is still possible to develop some interesting projects right away. In fact, I already started to develop one and I am now busy with the legal aspects which will take a couple of months. As soon as we start, I will begin posting our projects in this website. I would love to hear your opinion.
Meanwhile, let us continue celebrating Croatia's freedom anniversary. May our land be free forever!!! :cheers:

This article appeared on BBC news today:

"Croatia marks Storm anniversary

Croats in Knin watched a parade in a surge of patriotism
Thousands of Croats in the town of Knin have celebrated the 10th anniversary of a Croatian offensive which crushed a breakaway Serb republic in the region.
Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, attending a military parade, said the Operation Storm offensive in 1995 was magnificent and liberating.

But Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic said the anniversary was tragic and should not be celebrated.

Two hundred thousand Serbs were driven from the Krajina region in 1995.

Croat General Ante Gotovina is wanted by The Hague for alleged war crimes during Operation Storm.

'Last battle'

The speaker of the Croatian parliament, Vladimir Seks, described the operation as a "luminous victory" for the Croatian army.

"Today, with pride and dignity, Croatia marks the day of victory and homeland thanksgiving day," he said.

"Today we mark the 10th anniversary of Storm, the mother of all battles, the final and the last battle of the Homeland War, the last battle and, let us hope, the last armed battle in Croatia in both the past and the future."

The BBC's Matt Prodger in Belgrade says Operation Storm proved to be controversial.

On the one hand it enabled Croat refugees forced out by the Serbs to return to their homes, but it also resulted in the Serb exodus into neighbouring Bosnia and Serbia, as well as murders of Serbs who remained behind.

Serb ceremony

In a conciliatory gesture, Croatian President Stipe Mesic on Friday asked for forgiveness from those wronged in the name of his country.

On Thursday, several hundred Serbs attended a ceremony at a Belgrade church to remember those who died in the Krajina exodus.

Relatives of the dead and missing also staged a silent protest outside the Croatian embassy.

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has described Operation Storm as the biggest example of ethnic cleansing since World War II.

But Croatia says there is no comparison with the genocide of 8,000 Muslims by Serbs at Srebrenica in the same year."

Hi everyone,
I just returned from our beloved land... I cannot avoid feeling a bit nostalgic leaving all that beauty behind. At the same time, I am very happy with the results achieved regarding my real estate business. I found great people who are willing to work and help Croatia head in the right direction. New regulations regarding construction will hopefully be ready by the end of the year. However, it is still possible to develop some interesting projects right away. In fact, I already started to develop one and I am now busy with the legal aspects which will take a couple of months. As soon as we start, I will begin posting our projects in this website. I would love to hear your opinion.
Meanwhile, let us continue celebrating Croatia's freedom anniversary. May our land be free forever!!! :cheers:


Wb Daniela, long time, it is nice to hear you are doing fine and had some success in getting things done in Croatia, we are all looking forward to your reports and updates on any project you might work on, it is great to hear you are doing so great, and wb… :) :)

This article appeared on BBC news today:

"Croatia marks Storm anniversary

Croats in Knin watched a parade in a surge of patriotism
Thousands of Croats in the town of Knin have celebrated the 10th anniversary of a Croatian offensive which crushed a breakaway Serb republic in the region.
Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, attending a military parade, said the Operation Storm offensive in 1995 was magnificent and liberating.

But Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic said the anniversary was tragic and should not be celebrated.

Two hundred thousand Serbs were driven from the Krajina region in 1995.

Croat General Ante Gotovina is wanted by The Hague for alleged war crimes during Operation Storm.

'Last battle'

The speaker of the Croatian parliament, Vladimir Seks, described the operation as a "luminous victory" for the Croatian army.

"Today, with pride and dignity, Croatia marks the day of victory and homeland thanksgiving day," he said.

"Today we mark the 10th anniversary of Storm, the mother of all battles, the final and the last battle of the Homeland War, the last battle and, let us hope, the last armed battle in Croatia in both the past and the future."

The BBC's Matt Prodger in Belgrade says Operation Storm proved to be controversial.

On the one hand it enabled Croat refugees forced out by the Serbs to return to their homes, but it also resulted in the Serb exodus into neighbouring Bosnia and Serbia, as well as murders of Serbs who remained behind.

Serb ceremony

In a conciliatory gesture, Croatian President Stipe Mesic on Friday asked for forgiveness from those wronged in the name of his country.

On Thursday, several hundred Serbs attended a ceremony at a Belgrade church to remember those who died in the Krajina exodus.

Relatives of the dead and missing also staged a silent protest outside the Croatian embassy.

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has described Operation Storm as the biggest example of ethnic cleansing since World War II.

But Croatia says there is no comparison with the genocide of 8,000 Muslims by Serbs at Srebrenica in the same year."

Thanks for the article, Daniela :)

However, what is happening in Belgrade these days is totaly irrelevant and unimportant for Croatia and its big national holiday. We are celebrating liberation and final end of the war which BTW started in 1991, not in 1995; but some people and governments still dont get it or they simply dont wanna get it, their problem.

Peace

:cheers:

Who gives a f**k what they in Belgrade think about Storm! Ofcourse they are not proud of it, it was the battle they lost. But the country which started 4 wars is the last that has a right to bitch about war crimes. if they wanted to say something about war crimes, they had a nice opportunity to say it last month in Srebrenica. But I never heard any "sorry" for Srebrenica nor Vukovar.

long live free Croatia! :cheers:

Thanks for the article, Daniela :)

However, what is happening in Belgrade these days is totaly irrelevant and unimportant for Croatia and its big national holiday. We are celebrating liberation and final end of the war which BTW started in 1991, not in 1995; but some people and governments still dont get it or they simply dont wanna get it, their problem.

Peace

:cheers:

My pleasure bubach_hlubach. You are absolutely right, the only thing that is important is Croatia's freedom after so many centuries of struggle.

Wb Daniela, long time, it is nice to hear you are doing fine and had some success in getting things done in Croatia, we are all looking forward to your reports and updates on any project you might work on, it is great to hear you are doing so great, and wb… :) :)

Thank you for your warm welcome Mic. I will post more information about our projects once we get the approvals.

"TOP CROATIAN OFFICIALS SAY STORM WAS LEGITIMATE AND IRREPROACHABLE OPERATION

KNIN, Aug 5(Hina) - Operation Storm was a legitimate, justified and irreproachable offensive, top Croatian officials said in the town of Knin where they on Friday gathered for the central ceremony of the 10th anniversary of the operation.#L#
The Croatian officials again refuted allegations that it was a criminal operation organised with an aim to expel Serbs.

President Stjepan Mesic, Sabor Speaker Vladimir Seks and Prime Minister Ivo Sanader agree that the magnificence and purity of the operation cannot be overshadowed by events which happened in the wake of the Storm and which the Croatian government, they stress, is tackling.

President Mesic, whose speech was booed by the audience at the ceremony, said that the path towards the future implies that it is necessary to remove all doubts and acknowledge that in the war there were some who had not fought for Croatia but for their own interests and who destroyed also what should not have been destroyed.

It is such individuals who bring into question the magnificence and purity of the Homeland Defence War, Mesic said while the gathered chanted "Ante, Ante!" and "Franjo, Franjo!" referring to the fugitive general Ante Gotovina and the first Croatian President, the late Franjo Tudjman.

In this context, Mesic said that those who violated rules of waging wars and committed crimes against humanity must be held responsible.

Mesic told those who were staging protests that no protest would stop Croatia on its safe path and that nobody has the right not to implement Croatian laws as Croatia is at stake and not this or that individual, the president said.

He urged the unity about the key issues and appealed for the construction of a stable, democratic and tolerant state.

Croatia is enough fair and brave to acknowledge what was wrong in its past and to seek forgiveness from those who were exposed to the evil in its name, Mesic said.

Mesic held a speech at the outdoor playing grounds in the town of Knin, whose liberation on 5 August 1995 carried special significance because since the summer of 1990 this town had been the centre and symbol of the rebellion of local Serbs.

The parliament's chairman Vladimir Seks said that the then Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and his clique which Seks described as a criminal group deluded a great number of Serbs and it is they who are responsible for the exodus of Serbs and for encouraging local Serbs to resist their own country only to let them down later. That's why the Croatian government is not responsible but those who prepared Croatian Serbs to leave Croatia in a planned manner, Seks said.

The Sabor Speaker stressed the Storm ended a four-year Serb insurgency and crushed the self-proclaimed Republic of Serb Krajina which he branded as a criminal and terrorist parastate.

The centre of the reign of terror was in Knin, Seks said bringing applause from the audience.

He went on to say that incidents that happened in the wake of the Storm out of revenge or for criminal purposes deserved to be condemned and could not be justified. But this cannot mar the purity of Storm and the fact that the operation was justified, he said.

Seks as well as Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said that nobody should be allowed to distort the truth about the Homeland Defence War and magnificence of the 1995 Flash and Storm operations.

Sanader said that Storm was a splendid operation planned with the purpose of liberating the Croatian territory, and this is the only truth and this is what those coming back know.

The premier called for the separation of Storm from tragic events, criminal acts and injustice done against Croatian Serbs before the legal order was fully established.

The Croatian state is solving those incidents and Zagreb extends a hand of reconciliation so as to establish new relations in the area, Sanader said.

All the tree top officials paid tribute to the late Franjo Tudjman, the first Croatian President who was at the helm of Croatia in 1990s.

During the ceremony at the playing grounds, 12 formations of Croatian Armed Forces units passed in review. After that about 40 planes of the Croatian Air Force performed flight manoeuvres above Knin.

At the start of today's ceremony, the state delegations held wreath-laying ceremonies in the town's cemetery in commemoration of Croatian soldiers who died during the Homeland Defence War.

A big Croatian flag was then hoisted at the fortress at the hill overlooking this Croatian town, which was established in the Middle Ages.

At noon, a requiem mass in memory of those who gave their lives for the homeland was said by the Croatian Military Bishop, Juraj Jezerinac, in the local St Anthony's Church.

Today, the local polytechnic, named after the father of the Croatian literature, Marko Marulic, was opened in Knin.

The day-long festivities will end in the evening with concerts of popular music and a display of fireworks."

Who gives a f**k what they in Belgrade think about Storm! Ofcourse they are not proud of it, it was the battle they lost. But the country which started 4 wars is the last that has a right to bitch about war crimes. if they wanted to say something about war crimes, they had a nice opportunity to say it last month in Srebrenica. But I never heard any "sorry" for Srebrenica nor Vukovar.

long live free Croatia! :cheers:

You are absolutely right!

Some good news for Croatia on Freedom Day.

"SIX CROATIAN WOMEN - NOMINEES FOR THIS YEAR'S NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

ZAGREB, July 10 (Hina) - Six human rights activists from Croatia, all of who are women, are nominees for Nobel Peace Price this year.#L#
They are a part of another 1000 women, who have been nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, representatives of the Croatian Peace Studies Centre told a news conference in Zagreb last Tuesday.

Croatian nominees are Dragica Aleksa from the 'Luc' society for the promotion of dialogue and nonviolence from the eastern Croatian town of Berak, Mirjana Bilopalovic from the 'Delfin' association based in the town of Pakrac (150 kilometres east of Zagreb), Jelka Glumicic from the Human Rights Committee in Karlovac (50 kilometres south of Zagreb), Biserka Momcinovic of the Civil Initiatives Centre from the northern coastal city of Porec, Spasenija Moro from the Osijek-based Centre for Peace, Nonviolence and Human Rights, and Ana Raffai from the Regional Address of Nonviolent Action in Zagreb's eastern residential area Sesvete.

The above-mentioned Peace Studies Centre proposed these six women for the award, and sent applications through an international invitation, organised by the Swiss parliament.

Vesna Terselic of the Croatian centre explained that the Swiss parliament launched this initiative about nominating a larger number of women given that men had so far held a dominant position both in nominations and among laureates, although " it is women who mostly work on building of peace and whose work has not been sufficiently recognised and evaluated".

During the war and in the wake of the war, the six Croatian nominees focused their work on victims of the war and victims of all forms of violence, trying to help them to recover from traumas and continue living a life free of hatred, Terselic said.

The winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize will be selected in October, and the award-giving ceremony will be in December."

This article speaks for itself...

"GENERAL GOTOVINA IN SANADER'S DUGOBABE

Split, August 4 (FPB) - A large poster depicting fugitive Croatian Army General Ante Gotovina appeared in Dugobabe in the Split hinterland, the village PM Ivo Sanader's family originates from. The text on the three by five meter poster reads: I am a hero, and what are you? - alluding to PM Sanader and his proclaimed determination to "locate, apprehend and transfer" General Ante Gotovina to The Hague.
According to the president of the Kaštela War Veterans' Organisation Željko Strize, the poster was erected at the initiative of Dugobabe residents and the War Veterans' Organisation (HVIDRA). Kaštela HVIDRA issued a statement saying that the message the people living in this region were sending out to the general public was that the memory of General Ante Gotovina was alive in the hearts of each honest Croat, regardless of party affiliation or politics. The statement also condemns the fact that the Croatian parliament awarded its highest medal of honour to president Stjepan Mesić, who testified against his own country in The Hague and was guilty of perjury at the ICTY."

i dont care what kind of mast protests it would spark, they should track down Gotovina, storm his building, put a bag on his head and send him to the Hague. I'm sorry; Gotovina is a hero for what he did 10 years ago. But if he were a TRUE hero he'd turn himself in, and put Croatia on the road to prosperity in the EU. if he hadn't fled 4 years ago when Del Ponte issued the indictment, and just went straight to the hague, he'd have returned in 3-6 months a free man. shows his primitive, nationalist, "tko sto meni moze" thinking.

remember, im a croat here, and i think this guy is a coward for evading authorities. currently i feel no sympathy towards him.

i dont care what kind of mast protests it would spark, they should track down Gotovina, storm his building, put a bag on his head and send him to the Hague. I'm sorry; Gotovina is a hero for what he did 10 years ago. But if he were a TRUE hero he'd turn himself in, and put Croatia on the road to prosperity in the EU. if he hadn't fled 4 years ago when Del Ponte issued the indictment, and just went straight to the hague, he'd have returned in 3-6 months a free man. shows his primitive, nationalist, "tko sto meni moze" thinking.

remember, im a croat here, and i think this guy is a coward for evading authorities. currently i feel no sympathy towards him.

I know some here might disagree but I am 100% behind you on this...

thank you mike for your support ;)

looks like Sanader is workin his magic again...

Croatia: Government lowers GDP targets for 2005-08

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

14:47 - 05 August 2005 - The Croatian government approved revised economical and fiscal targets until 2008, including gross domestic product (GDP) targets that are signifiacntly lower than those set in its earlier pre-accession economic programme.


According to economic and fiscal policy guidelines for 2005-'08, the real GDP growth rate in 2005 will be 3.7%, quickening to 4.0% in 2006.
The government did not release a target for 2007, but said that the real GDP growth rate should be 4.3% in 2008, according to the state news agency Hina.

The newly set GDP targets are much conservative than those outlined in the country's three-year, pre-accession economic programme for 2005-'07, a binding document for each EU candidate country.

They were set at 4.4% for this year, 4.5% for 2006 and 4.6% for 2007.

FERAGOSOT Na Jadran u 15 dana dolazi 700.000 Talijana

Talijani zakrčili granice i ceste

Autor A. ČERNJUL, N. KOŠČIĆ, M. ČULJAT, J. BOSAK

http://www.vecernji-list.hr/system/galleries/pics/050806/hrv_turist.jpg


Vrhunac turističke sezone jučer je prouzročio velike prometne gužve na svim prometnica prema moru, a čak 18 kilometarska kolona bila je na graničnom prijelazu Pasjak. Masovni dolazak Talijana stvorio je veliki prometni pritisak na sve istarske granične prijelaze i na istarski ipsilon, a preko tri kilometra duge kolone bile su ispred tunela Učke u smjeru Rijeke.

13 km na Sv. Roku
Također je bio vrlo gust promet Jadranskom magistralom prema jugu, a naročito između Splita i Makarske. Vrlo velik priljev turista dolazio je s graničnih prijelaza na sjeverozapadu zemlje, a na Bregani se na prelazak granice čekalo do tri sata. Osim na ulasku u zemlju, gužva je bila na izlasku iz zemlje i to na graničnim prijelazima Macelj i Bajakovo gdje su kolone bile oko tri kilometra.

Na autocesti kroz tunel Mala Kapela vozilo se u dva smjera prema moru, a s južne strane povremeno su bile kolone duge do jedan kilometar. Ispred tunela Sveti Rok kolone u smjeru juga bile su i preko 13 kilometara, a ona prema unutrašnjosti oko pet kilometara. Kolone za trajekte
Najveći pritisak vozila je bio za otok Rab gdje je kolona u Jablancu bila preko sedam kilometara, a neprestano su vozila četiri trajekta.

Gužva za trajekte
U Prizni za otok Pag kolona je bila duga oko dva kilometra.Premda je tradicionalni odmor ferragosto u Italiji počeo potkraj prošlog tjedna, prava najezda talijanskih gostiju na hrvatskom Jadranu počet će ovaj vikend. Tako će u sljedećih petnaest dana, prema podacima koje smo dobili u Uredu HTZ-a u Milanu, doći oko 700.000 Talijana. Prema ispitivanju CISET-a i UIC-a, talijanski su gosti prošle godine u inozemstvu potrošili 1092 eura po osobi ili 125 eura dnevno, a ove godine potrošit će 1077 eura ili 115 eura na dan.

holy moly :runaway:

:cheers:

yeah keep the 2nd tunnels closed, Sanader government, VERY smart!
:soapbox: :soapbox: :soapbox: :soapbox: :soapbox: :soapbox: :wallbash: :wallbash: :wallbash: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2:

nisam znao da su obje cijeli tunela prokopane!
ali koga briga za tunele, nek oni samo dođu i donesu lovu ;) :D

Second tubes are not finished yet - no electronic monitoring and traffic regulating equipment, no ventilation system, i think there's no upper asphalt layer. It will be opened when they achieve daily traffic of 15.000 avarage vehicles thru the year. Presently it's around 9.000 vehicles daily avarage which is too low considering that during tourist season weeks 50.000 vehicles pass daily and that affects the avarage. Second tubes prediction for completion is 3 to 4 years. :)

:cheers:

Pic by dadekhr
http://img74.echo.cx/img74/500/dalmatina021web4nh.jpg

True, both tunnels are constructed, except only one of them operates. The second of the dual tunnels has not been fitted out yet but it wont be too much longer hopefully. Perhaps by next year. :)

True, both tunnels are constructed, except only one of them operates. The second of the dual tunnels has not been fitted out yet but it wont be too much longer hopefully. Perhaps by next year. :)
They say it's one of the safest tunnels in Europe. Even some experts from Germany said it's extremly safe but couldn't enter the ADAC (German automobile club) contest because teh second tube is not opened yet. I've seen many times on Dnevnik how fast the tunnel staff reacts. Tunnel has tons of cameras and managing center is well equiped. There was an accident in front of the entrance, staff saw the accident immediately, called police and tow-service which arrived in five minutes. There was even a report on RTL about accidents and almost-accidents and they used traffic center's footage. You should see how stupid some folks are. People driving in the wrong direction, making U-turns on highway, stopping in tunnel to take pictures :weird:

There was some old guy driving in a wrong direction, he almost got hit a few times, cameras recorded him. Staff was sent out to intercept. They stopped him and turned him around. He said that he didn't know that he was driving in a wrong directon (he was driving on right side - fast lane :bash: ) and this was his first time driving on the highway. Staff was so shocked that they forgot to take his license plate number. Later they captured the number from camera recordings and police pressed charges. :cheers1:

I heard that the new A1 motorway got excellent reviews from many European motorway associations and car clubs. :yes:

However, LOL @ the crazy drivers. I expect to see some interesting footage from the A1 regarding idiot drivers on some of these TV shows about "Worlds Worst Drivers" :D

Reminds me of some footage I saw on such a show early this year here in Australia. It was from Croatia and the segment was from the Croatian news. The journalist was interviewing some old man near a section of road where there were many accidents.

The next thing you see is this woman in an RV flying thru the air behind the old guy and then you see the new RV crash down the embankment with the vehicle ending up on its roof. The woman driver climbed out unscathed ....... It was funny! :D

im sorry, i have to report this. our american forumers will see the importance.

The one and only newscaster i've known my whole life, the only TV person i grew up around, Peter Jennings, has died at age 67 from lung cancer.

Peter Jennings, the Canadian news anchor who hosted World News Tonight on ABC for 22 years, is dead at age 67 from lung cancer.

His last public appearance on April 5th, he reported in a hoarse voice about his upcoming chemotherapy, and joked about loosing his hair.

In his last internet post on July 29th, on his 67th birthday, he thanked his well-wishers and talked about how he spent his birthday with his family.

A Native Canadian, he hosted ABC's World News Tonight for 22 years, from 1983.

You will be dearly missed, Peter. Rest in Peace.

CNN Story (http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/08/07/jennings.obit/)

Peter Jennings RIP Thread I started in the Skybar (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=243212)

Wow. I remember him too although I live in Australia. You'd see a few of his reports here and there from time to time. I had no idea that he was so ill.

They say it's one of the safest tunnels in Europe. Even some experts from Germany said it's extremly safe but couldn't enter the ADAC (German automobile club) contest because teh second tube is not opened yet. I've seen many times on Dnevnik how fast the tunnel staff reacts. Tunnel has tons of cameras and managing center is well equiped. There was an accident in front of the entrance, staff saw the accident immediately, called police and tow-service which arrived in five minutes. There was even a report on RTL about accidents and almost-accidents and they used traffic center's footage. You should see how stupid some folks are. People driving in the wrong direction, making U-turns on highway, stopping in tunnel to take pictures :weird:

There was some old guy driving in a wrong direction, he almost got hit a few times, cameras recorded him. Staff was sent out to intercept. They stopped him and turned him around. He said that he didn't know that he was driving in a wrong directon (he was driving on right side - fast lane :bash: ) and this was his first time driving on the highway. Staff was so shocked that they forgot to take his license plate number. Later they captured the number from camera recordings and police pressed charges. :cheers1:

pa ajde reci mi, KOJI SU KURAC UOPCE SADA PROBIJALI DRUGI TUNEL?!?!? Pravi mene, kao tourista, TAKO frustriranim kada vidim dva tunela a moram se ici jebavati s jednim tunelom.

Do you guys believe this? Roman Abramovič wants to buy NK Varteks! :sly:

http://www.slobodnadalmacija.com/20050809/sport01.asp

Do you guys believe this? Roman Abramovič wants to buy NK Varteks! :sly:

http://www.slobodnadalmacija.com/20050809/sport01.asp
Yeah, right :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
You said something about quality of Slobodna Dalmacija....

Roman Abramovič seems to spend a bit of time in Croatia, cruising the coast and islands in his luxury yacht. I also heard he owns some real estate up in Istria. Perhaps he wants to become an honorary citizen?

:D The 4.3 km long tunnel Sv Ilija is under construction to link the new Split-Ploce-Dubrovnik motorway (also U/C) with the city of Makarska on the coast.

The tunnel passes beneath the spectacular Biokovo Mountains .....

http://www.vecernji-list.hr/system/galleries/pics/050809/hrv-tunel-graf.jpg

http://www.vecernji-list.hr/system/galleries/pics/050809/hrv-ilija-txt.jpg

^ in regards to your post about the tunnel and the construction of the motorway, have you guys been to the Hrvatske Autoceste webstie recently? they have 3 pdf's, one of Zagreb-Split, one of Rupa-Rijeka-Zuta Lokva, and one of Split-Ploce.

This Split-Ploce is JUST TUNNELS AND VIADUTCS! how expensive is this damn thing gonna be? from ploce to dubrovnik, counting the Peljesac bridge that Kalmeta announced is starting construction next month, and having even more tunnels and viaducts due to the twice-as-difficult terrain, it will be ridiculously expensive.

^ in regards to your post about the tunnel and the construction of the motorway, have you guys been to the Hrvatske Autoceste webstie recently? they have 3 pdf's, one of Zagreb-Split, one of Rupa-Rijeka-Zuta Lokva, and one of Split-Ploce.

This Split-Ploce is JUST TUNNELS AND VIADUTCS! how expensive is this damn thing gonna be? from ploce to dubrovnik, counting the Peljesac bridge that Kalmeta announced is starting construction next month, and having even more tunnels and viaducts due to the twice-as-difficult terrain, it will be ridiculously expensive.


I called HAK, and they said that current tunnels in Croatia will be a joke when they start contraction of new section to Dubrovnik they are thinking if it goes at planed route (no Peljesac bridge) one of the tunnels might be 7km long, longest in Croatia by far, and from Rijeka to Zadar section an 8km long tunnel is planed, there are still option for viaduct section which would hug the mountainside and go along entire section of the mountain on pedestals or perhaps quicker option would be to dig 8 km long tunnel and hope the price wont be to high, lol…

I hope the Viaduct gets built instead of Tunnel as than it would be spectacular view, perhaps dangerous as many drivers might look on the scenery rather than road, lol…

In either case it would be very expensive and lengthy construction, I think by 2010 Croatia will have complete motorway network many counties could only envy to…


Lets hope Croatia can wait and hope to receive EU structural and infrastructure funds for railway network bring it up to EU standards, I am afraid Croatia is still lacking way behind, it is ahead of most of its Eastern Neighbours but lags behind Slovenia and Czech Republic in terms of rail infrastructure, it needs to improve its lines and network so trains can achieve speeds pf up to 240kmph, as well as secure all major rail junction and passes buy putting roads underneath the rail, as if train hits heavy truck on rail crossing, death toll in train could be catastrophic, Italy – 2005, and Germany in 2003 when intercity express both hit trucks, loss of live in both instances was over 30 dead and over 100 injured and hospitalized…


Hopefully Croatia can improve all its airports and thus attract even more tourist…

if you ask me mike, i believe there should build high speed cement rails from Zagreb, to Osijek, Rijeka, and Dubrovnik. I know it would be ridiculously expensive and even more out of place.

But like this you wouldnt ever have to upgrade for millions of years, lol, and i think croatia should be an example to the entire region, or maybe even the continent of what tranportation should be. besides, how convenient is it to get from Zagreb Center to Split Center in an hour? and another hour to Dubrovnik?

considring our livelihood from tourism and transportation, i dont find it out of place at all for Croatia to have those ICE-3 trains discussed earlier, the ones that go 360 km/h. we depend on tourism, and it will make it easier to get to top destinations from our soon-to-be regional travel hub, Zagreb.

croatia should seriously consider the "ice-cube" trains. lemme just let you guys know, im lucky enough that i may be able to tip off the right ppl and get this high speed railway built. no joke. but thats all i can say publicly.

^ in regards to your post about the tunnel and the construction of the motorway, have you guys been to the Hrvatske Autoceste webstie recently? they have 3 pdf's, one of Zagreb-Split, one of Rupa-Rijeka-Zuta Lokva, and one of Split-Ploce.

This Split-Ploce is JUST TUNNELS AND VIADUTCS! how expensive is this damn thing gonna be? from ploce to dubrovnik, counting the Peljesac bridge that Kalmeta announced is starting construction next month, and having even more tunnels and viaducts due to the twice-as-difficult terrain, it will be ridiculously expensive.

Expensive yes, but its worth it. We need to be able to access every corner of Croatia in the quickest and safest possible time. It will do a massive amount for our eceonmy if the country was fully integrated with proper motorways and rail lines.

Like Mic said, what till they release some details on the Rijeka - Zadar section. That will by far have incredible tunnels and viaducts and hopefully will allow for some super views from above.

All this is long overdue however its better now as otherwise later it will become far more expensive as the cost especially in labour will rise dramatically.

@ Mike, I agree Croatia has to improve some things (modernize its rail network), but hey, Croatia has its own priorities, can't be the top of top of top of top lol in every single category you can think of; highways, sea ports, airports etc etc etc. For example, name one country on this planet that's size of Croatia that has that many international airports, that developed ferry network with islands and neighbours (Italy), tons of bridges and viaducts, superB highways etc. When I put all these facts and figures together, i can freely say Croatia kicks ass :)

Things that are still missing will come with time, no worries :)

:cheers:

Lol, I just love they way you call ICE3’s Ice cubes, lol, you know ICE-T are of the same design but don’t go as fast, only 230kmph, they are ok on normal rails and can easily reach Split in 4 hours if infrastructure is top notch…

At no point does 360kmph ICE3 reach Split in one hour or even 2, it is simply impossible, perhaps in 2 and half or even 3 hours yeah but anything less would be a joke , Although Split is 365km away as crow’s fly over land is near by 500km and it would take ICE-3 about 150 minutes to reach Split (average speed is normally 250kmph) and train will probably stop in Krlovac, Zadar and Sibenik before it arrives in Split, assuming this it might take 3 hours…

With ICE-T which looks identical but it goes only 230kmph (max speed) average speed is more about 180-200kmph. ICE-T could be in Split in mare 3.1/2 -4 hours and this would only require improvements on existing rail tracks and signalisation as well as construction of underpasses for road traffic which is a norm everywhere in Europe…

Building HST and its concrete base on which rails lay Is way to expensive, for link to Split it would cost about 3 billion US$... Modernising and introducing second rail-line (rail expert’s plz correct me on this) wold cost less than a billion US$... (this includes electrification as well)…

But would allow speeds in excess of 220kmph and ICE-T’c can reach it in orderly manner, lol,,,



ICE-Cubes (ICE-3) cost about 12.5 million US$
ICE-T’s cost about 8 million US$ for 5 car composition… they are identical in looks and comfort, only difference being one goes 400kmph max speed the other goes 230kmph max speed
:) :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:


PS., PS, guys lets go with 700 posts before we start new Croatian thread, when we cross 700 post can someone open new Thread, thanx for your understanding…

^ what i meant by an hour was if it were to go express, as in, no stops between zagreb and split. just flat out 400 km from zagreb center to split center

i know the difference between the ice cube and ice tray, about how the cube goes 400 km, and tray 230, and how they look the same and have same comfort. i was saying if croatia were to completely retrofit all of its trains to say south korean or french level. u know, with the cement railways.

i was saying earlier it would make sense for croatia in the long run to make cement railways. it has to be an uncatchable role model in the region. something the rest can just stare at and be amazed by.

^ what i meant by an hour was if it were to go express, as in, no stops between zagreb and split. just flat out 400 km from zagreb center to split center

i know the difference between the ice cube and ice tray, about how the cube goes 400 km, and tray 230, and how they look the same and have same comfort. i was saying if croatia were to completely retrofit all of its trains to say south korean or french level. u know, with the cement railways.

i was saying earlier it would make sense for croatia in the long run to make cement railways. it has to be an uncatchable role model in the region. something the rest can just stare at and be amazed by.

I think they already do on most things. :D

and we'll leave on a high note.

guys, thank you for your participation in the 2nd edition of the Croatia Economic News and Development Thread.

Moderators, please close this thread.