Project valued at 300 million kuna, Zagreb receives 20 new low-floor trams

The City of Zagreb will receive 20 low-floor trams, and Mayor Tomislav Tomašević stated on Friday that this is a great Christmas gift for the citizens and the largest individual project funded by EU funds worth 300 million kuna, financed from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The contract for the allocation of non-repayable funds for the procurement of 20 low-floor trams for ZET was signed by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butković, the acting director of the Central Agency for Financing and Contracting of EU Programs and Projects (SAFU) Dragan Jelić, and the director of ZET Marko Bogdanović.

– After 17 years, the renewal of the fleet is finally underway – 20 low-floor trams, which will mean less delays in traffic for the citizens of Zagreb and fewer situations where the vehicle does not appear because it has broken down – emphasized Tomašević.

ZET tickets will not increase

He stated that it is not normal for a European metropolis to go 17 years without purchasing a single tram, as the renewal of the fleet should be systematic and continuous. He also asserted that no price correction for ZET tickets is expected in the coming months.

The greatest thanks for the new 20 low-floor trams goes to the Government and the Ministry of Transport, said Tomašević, as the money for this will be drawn from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NPOO). He also thanked the Government for measures to stabilize electricity prices, as uncontrolled increases would have most affected Water Supply and Drainage and ZET. The cost of electricity amounted to about 45 million kuna annually, and there was a threat that the price could rise even 15 times.

Tomašević announced the expansion of the tram network in Heinzelova Street, from Zvonimirova to Vukovarska and to the terminus at Savišće, and hopes that some of these projects will also be financed from EU funds.

Bogdanović stated that the procurement of the new 20 low-floor trams is just the first phase of ZET’s modernization, with the goal of acquiring 80 new low-floor trams in the next period.

Butković emphasized that the procurement of 20 low-floor trams is the largest individual project in the NPOO, with a total value of around 40 million euros, and it will be seen what else public procurement will reveal. He reminded that a few weeks ago, ZET also received 45 new buses from EU funds, and in the previous operational period, a large part of the tram infrastructure in Zagreb was renewed, with one of the projects being a roundabout.

New challenge – fast track to the Airport

He stated that Zagreb still lacks about 60 new trams, assuring that the Government and the Ministry remain partners with the City in this regard, and announced that a similar contract signing will take place in Osijek.

Butković reminded that a few days ago they signed a contract from the NPOO for the procurement of new battery trains, and a contract was also signed from the NPOO for the renewal of the railway line through Zagreb, valued at 250 million kuna.

He told Tomašević that he ‘has to tackle new challenges, which is the new line, the fast railway to the Airport.’

– So that when we welcome the national team at the airport, they do not have to go by bus but by train – replied Tomašević.