Greenpeace: By the ratio of investment in roads and railways, Croatia is among the worst in Europe

A study commissioned by Greenpeace in Central and Eastern Europe (Greenpeace CEE) from the German Wuppertal Institute and T3 Transportation Think Tank has shown that since 1995, the highway network in Croatia has increased by as much as 334 percent, while the railway network has decreased by four percent.

From 1995 to 2021, Croatia invested around 13.3 billion euros in roads and only 2.1 billion in railways. As a result, the highway network grew from 302 kilometers in 1995 to 1,310 kilometers in 2020, which is the eighth largest growth rate among all analyzed countries in the Study (EU 27, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom).

In addition to the reduction of the Croatian railway network, five railway lines with a total length of 118 kilometers have been closed to passenger transport, and 28 railway stations have also been closed, preventing thousands of people from accessing the railway. All five lines have only been ‘suspended’, meaning they could easily be reopened with the necessary public funding.

The current ratio of investment in roads compared to railways in Croatia is four times higher than the European average. Looking at comparable European data from 1995 to 2018, only Romania had a worse ratio.

– Croatia has systematically neglected its national and international railway network over the last three decades while pouring enormous amounts of money into roads. This has led us to be among the worst countries in Europe in terms of investment in railway infrastructure. Thousands of people in rural areas do not have adequate access to public transport and are actually forced to own a car or stay at home – emphasized Petra Andrić, program leader of Greenpeace in Croatia.

Transport is the only sector that does not contribute to reducing CO2

Despite alarming climate circumstances and the global agreement to reduce greenhouse gases from the 1990s, Europe has invested 66 percent more in roads than in railways over the past three decades (1.5 trillion euros in roads compared to 930 billion euros, mostly in high-speed rail), thus promoting private oil-based transport instead of sustainable public transport.

The length of European highways has increased by 60 percent, or more than 30,000 km, leading to a 29 percent increase in demand for motorized road transport up to 2019. Meanwhile, the total European railway network has decreased by 6.5 percent, or 15,650 km.

Transport is the only sector in Europe that still does not contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, greenhouse gas emissions from transport have increased by 15 percent from 1995 to 2019, mainly due to vehicles using fossil fuels.

For comparison, an average train journey in Europe produces 77 percent less greenhouse gas emissions per passenger kilometer than traveling by car.

– In Croatia and across Europe, people are struggling with climate chaos. This report is a tragic reminder of lost decades of climate measures in a transport system responsible for nearly a third of greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union. The published data for Croatia shows how governments have prioritized highway construction for decades, neglecting sustainable transport and thus making Croatia dependent on oil.

We call on the Government to shift financial priorities from roads to railways and invest significantly in upgrading and modernizing railway infrastructure so that railways become an accessible alternative to road transport and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – stated Andrić.