Transport in Croatia relies on several main modes, including transport by car, train, ship and plane. Road transport incorporates a comprehensive network of state, county and local routes augmented by a network of highways for long-distance travelling. Water transport can be divided into sea, based on the ports of Rijeka, Ploče, Split and Zadar, and river transport, based on Sava, Danube and, to a lesser extent, Drava. Croatia has 9 international airports and several airlines, of which the most notable are Croatia Airlines and Trade Air. Rail network is fairly developed but regarding inter-city transport, bus tends to be far more common than the rail.
Rail transport
Railway corridors
The Croatian railway network is classified into three groups: railways of international, regional and local significance. The most important railway lines follow Pan-European corridors V/branch B (Rijeka - Zagreb - Budapest) and X, which connect with each other in Zagreb. With international passenger trains, Croatia is directly connected with two of the neighbouring (Slovenia and Hungary), and many medium-distanced Central European countries such as Czech Republic, Slovakia (during the summer season), Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Dubrovnik and Zadar are two of the most populous and well known cities in Croatia that are not connected with the railway, while the city of Pula (together with the rest of westernmost Istria County) can only be directly reached by railway through Slovenia (unless one takes the railway company's organized bus service between Rijeka and Lupoglav). As most of the country's interior-based larger towns are connected with the railway on which regular passenger train operation is provided (opposite to the coastal part of the country), there are many small inland towns, villages and remote areas that are served by the trains running on regional or local corridors.
Infrastructure condition
In Croatia, railways are served by standard-gauge (1,435 mm; 4 ft 8+1⁄2). Construction length of the railway network is 2617 km; 1626.12 mi. (2341 km / 1454.63 mi. of single-track corridors and 276 km / 171.49 mi. of double-track corridors). 1013 km (629.44 mi.) of railways are electrified, according to the annual rail network public report of Croatian Railways (2023 issue). The largest part of country's railway infrastructure dates back from the pre-World War II period and more than half of the core routes were, in fact, built during the Habsburg monarchy i.e. before World War I. More on that, there were also significant lack of investments and decrease of proper maintenance in Croatian railway infrastructure, roughly from the time of the country's independence (1991) to late 2000s, which mainly resulted in slowing of permitted track speeds, increase of the riding times and decrease in the overall quality of passenger transport, especially since 2010s on Inter City level. As a result, a fair number of routes lag significantly behind West-European standards in the form of infrastructural condition.
However, major infrastructure improvements started to occur in early 2010's and continued through 2020's, such as full-profile reconstruction and/or upgrading of the country's international and most of the regional/local corridors. Those improvements, among other things, results in increasing of both maximum track speed and operation safety, shortening of the travel time and modernization of supporting infrastructure (stations, platforms and other equipment).
First newly built railway in Croatia since 1967 (L214) was opened in December 2019.
The official rail speed record in Croatia is . Maximum speed reached in regular service is .
Passenger transport All nationwide and commuter passenger rail services in Croatia are operated by the country's national railway company Croatian Railways.
Air transport
Croatia counts 9 civil, 13 sport and 3 military airports. There are nine international civil airports: Zagreb Airport, Split Airport, Dubrovnik Airport, Zadar Airport, Pula Airport, Rijeka Airport (on the island of Krk), Osijek Airport, Bol and Mali Lošinj. The two busiest airports in the country are the ones serving Zagreb and Split.
By the end of 2010, significant investments in the renovation of Croatian airports began. New modern and spacious passenger terminals were opened in 2017 at Zagreb and Dubrovnik Airports and in 2019 at Split Airport. The new passenger terminals at Dubrovnik Airport and Zagreb Airport are the first in Croatia to feature jet bridges.
Airports that serve cities on the Adriatic coast receive the majority of the traffic during the summer season due to the large number of flights from foreign air carriers (especially low-cost) that serve these airports with seasonal flights.
Croatia Airlines is the state-owned flag carrier of Croatia. It is headquartered in Zagreb and its main hub is Zagreb Airport.
Croatia is connected by air with a large number of foreign (especially European) destinations, while its largest cities are interconnected by a significant number of domestic air routes such as lines between Zagreb and Split, Dubrovnik and Zadar, between Osijek and Rijeka, between Osijek and Split and between Zadar and Pula. This routes are operated by domestic air carriers such as Croatia Airlines or Trade Air.
Road transport
From the time of Napoleon and building the Louisiana road, the road transport in Croatia has significantly improved, topping most European countries. Croatian highways are widely regarded as being one of the most modern and safe in Europe. This is because the largest part of the Croatian motorway and expressway system (autoceste and brze ceste, resp.) has been recently constructed (mainly in the 2000s), and further construction is continuing. The motorways in Croatia connect most major Croatian cities and all major seaports. The two longest routes, the A1 and the A3, span the better part of the country and the motorway network connects most major border crossings.
Tourism is of major importance for the Croatian economy, and as most tourists come to vacation in Croatia in their own cars, the highways serve to alleviate summer jams. They have also been used as a means of stimulating urgently needed economic growth, and for the sustainable development of this country. Croatia now has a considerable highway density for a country of its size, helping it cope with the consequences of being a transition economy and having suffered in the Croatian War of Independence.
Some of the most impressive parts of the road infrastructure in Croatia includes the Sveti Rok and Mala Kapela tunnels on the A1 motorway, and the Pelješac Bridge in the southernmost part of the country.
, Croatia has a total of of roads.Croatia. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
Traffic laws The traffic signs adhere to the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals.
The general speed limits are: in inhabited areas 50 km/h outside of inhabited areas 90 km/h on marked expressways 110 km/h on marked motorways 130 km/h
Some of the more technical safety measures include that all new Croatian tunnels have modern safety equipment and there are several control cereers, which monitor highway traffic.
Motorways
Motorways (, plural ) in Croatia applies to dual carriageway roads with at least two traffic lanes in each driving direction and an emergency lane. Direction road signs at Croatian motorways have green background with white lettering similar to the German Autobahn. The designations of motorways are "A" and the motorway number. , the Croatian motorway network is long, with additional of new motorways under construction. The list of completed motorways is as follows (see individual articles for further construction plans and status):
A1, Zagreb - Bosiljevo - Split - Ploče (E71, E65) A2, Zagreb - Krapina - Macelj (E59) A3, Bregana - Zagreb - Lipovac (E70) A4, Goričan - Varaždin/Čakovec - Zagreb (E71) A5, Osijek - Đakovo - Sredanci (E73) A6, Bosiljevo - Rijeka (E65) A7, Rupa - Rijeka bypass (E61) A8, Kanfanar interchange - Matulji (E751) A9, Umag - Pula (E751) A10, A1 Ploče interchange - Metković border crossing A11, Velika Gorica - Lekenik
Toll is charged on most Croatian motorways, and exceptions are the A11 motorway, Zagreb bypass and Rijeka bypass, as well as sections adjacent to border crossings (except eastbound A3). Payment at toll gates is by all major credit cards or cash, in Euro. Most motorways are covered by the closed toll collection system, where a driver receives a ticket at the entrance gates and pays at the exit gates according to the number of sections travelled. Open toll collection is used on some bridges and tunnels and short stretches of tolled highway, where drivers immediately pay the toll upon arriving. Various forms of prepaid electronic toll collection systems are in place which allow quicker collection of toll, usually at a discounted rate, as well as use of dedicated toll plaza lanes (for ENC system of the electronic toll collection).
Expressways
The term brza cesta or expressway refers to limited-access roads specifically designated as such by legislation and marked with appropriate limited-access road traffic signs. The expressways may comprise two or more traffic lanes, while they normally do not have emergency lanes.
Polu-autocesta or semi-highway refers to a two-lane, undivided road running on one roadway of a motorway while the other is in construction. By legal definition, all semi-highways are expressways.
The expressway routes in Croatia usually correspond to a state road (see below) and are marked a "D" followed by a number. The "E" numbers are designations of European routes.
State roads
Major roads that aren't part of the motorway system are državne ceste (state routes). They are marked with the letter D and the road's number.
The most traveled state routes in Croatia are: D1, connects Zagreb and Split via Lika - passes through Karlovac, Slunj, Plitvice, Korenica, Knin, Sinj. D2, connects Varaždin and Osijek via Podravina - passes through Koprivnica, Virovitica, Slatina, Našice. D8, connects Rijeka and Dubrovnik, widely known as Jadranska magistrala and part of E65 - runs along the coastline and connects many cities on the coast, including Crikvenica, Senj, Zadar, Šibenik, Trogir, Split, Omiš, Makarska and Ploče.
Since the construction of A1 motorway beyond Gorski kotar started, D1 and D8 are much less used.
These routes are monitored by Croatian roadside assistance because they connect important locations. Like all state routes outside major cities, they are only two-lane arterials and do not support heavy traffic. All state routes are routinely maintained by Croatian road authorities. The road sign for a state route has a blue background and the route's designation in white. State routes have one, two or three-digit numbers.
County roads and minor roads Secondary routes are known as county roads. They are marked with signs with yellow background and road number. These roads' designations are rarely used, but usually marked on regional maps if these roads are shown. Formally, their designation is the letter Ž and the number. County roads have four-digit numbers.
The least known are the so-called local roads. Their designations are never marked on maps or by roadside signs and as such are virtually unknown to public. Their designations consist of the letter L and a five-digit number.
Bus traffic