Croatian Railways (Croatian: Hrvatske željeznice; abbreviated as HŽ) is the national railway company of Croatia. Croatia is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC Country Code for Croatia is 78. The Croatian rail network carried 20.270 million passengers in 2018. Croatian Railways was founded in 1991 from the former JŽ ("Yugoslav Railways") Zagreb Division, following Croatia's secession from Yugoslavia. Its vehicle fleet was initially the one found at the time of the breakup of Yugoslavia. It has been modernized over time, and further modernization is currently being carried out. The first railway section on the territory of today's Republic of Croatia, then part of Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, was built in 1860 in Međimurje: the railway line from Nagykanizsa in Hungary via Čakovec and Kotoriba continued to Pragerski in Slovenia. It is worth noting that this railway - although only a small part of it passed through Croatian territory (Međimurje was part of Croatia at the time the railway was built, but in January 1861, it was annexed to Hungary by the decision of Vienna) was built only 35 years after the first European railway, which was established in 1825 between the towns of Stockton and Darlington in England. Railroads that connected Rijeka, the most important port in Croatia, with Trieste (and further with Vienna), and with Zagreb (and further with Budapest ) were put into service in 1873.

Croatian Railways - Wikipedia