Rail freight in Croatia recorded positive figures for the second quarter of 2026, according to the country’s regulatory authority HAKOM. One of the most interesting trends is that state-owned HŽ Cargo has performed worse than the same period last year, while private operators are gaining significant ground.
HAKOM provided data for total tonnes moved, tonne-kilometres and revenue. Total volumes increased by 9.2% to over 3.3 million tonnes, while transport performance grew by 9.7% to over 807 million tonne-kilometres. “At the same time, rail freight operators’ revenues from freight transport increased by 14.6%”, the authority said, without specifying the numbers.
Private operators on the rise
“Of the 20 registered rail freight operators in the Republic of Croatia, 15 were operationally active, while five operators did not carry out freight transport during the second quarter” HAKOM said. During the second trimester of the year, HŽ Cargo experienced decreases both in volumes (-2.9%) and performance (-3.5%) compared to Q2 2025. On the other hand, private operators grew in both categories: +17.3% and +21.1%.
Operationally, the state-owned company still held a 36% market share for total tonnes and 41% in tonne-kilometres. Both have significantly dropped since the end of 2025, when they were 43% and 49% respectively.
Despite the operational decline, the state-owned company remained the main player in the country for revenue, with a 39.5% share. Among the private operators, the largest ones are Enna Transport with a 23.2% revenue market share, Rail Cargo Carrier Croatia (a subsidiary of Austrian RCG) with 9.4%, Transagent Rail with 8.4% and Rail and Sea with 6.7%.
