Flood-Damaged Railway Services Resume In Bosnia

(MENAFN- IANS) Sarajevo, Feb 11 (IANS) Railway services in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) have fully resumed following a four-month suspension caused by severe flooding, the national railway operator said.

Flooding in early October heavily damaged railway infrastructure in the Jablanica area of central Bosnia, bringing operations to a halt.

As of Monday, passenger train services between the capital Sarajevo, and the southern border city of Capljina are back in operation. Freight transport to the port of Ploce in Croatia, a key economic hub in the Western Balkans, already resumed at the end of January.

The flood-related damages resulted in an estimated revenue loss of 22.5 million Bosnia-Herzegovina Convertible Marka (KM) (nearly $11.9 million), Xinhua news agency reported.

The railway operator has applied for financial assistance from the EU Solidarity Fund to support repairs on the most severely affected sections between Konjic and Grabovica in central Bosnia. (1 KM = $0.53)

Bosnia and Herzegovina Railways announced that repairs on the railway line connecting the capital Sarajevo to the country's south have been completed.

Service was halted after devastating floods last October which hit five cities and left 29 people dead. The disaster severely damaged rail infrastructure, disrupting transport across the region.

Mostar, known for its scenic landscapes and river views, was been cut off from rail service during the repair work.

Train operations along the route are now fully restored, the railway authority confirmed.

The rail traffic was disrupted on October 4, 2024, when rainwater triggered a landslide at the Komadinov Vrelo location in Jablanica, leaving a 200-metre-long track hanging in the air.

The work has been completed and the railway was tested on Sunday (January 26), with the Minister of Transport and Communications of Bosnia and Herzegovina Edin Forto announcing that freight traffic will be allowed first, followed by passenger traffic.

The repair of the damage to the railway, which has caused trains to be out of service on the Sarajevo-Mostar and further to the Ploce (Croatia) section for almost four months, was carried out by the Turkish company Cengiz Insaat.

The railway from Ploce via Metkovic (Croatia) through Bosnia and Herzegovina and the cities of Capljina, Mostar, Jablanica, and Konjic to Sarajevo is a part of the European Corridor 5c.

Daily transport in the first nine months of 2024 averaged 6,500 to 7,000 tons of goods, according to the Federation Railways company's data from October.

It is estimated that at the time of the interruption of rail traffic, the Port of Ploce had about 400,000 tons of goods intended for the Bosnian market.

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