METRANS has just completed the full acquisition of AdriaRail Group. The company had taken over 51 per cent of Adria Rail’s stakes in March 2023, while now it has proceeded to acquire the remaining 49 per cent. “We have reached another important milestone in the expansion of our European network,” commented Peter Kiss, CEO of METRANS.

According to METRANS, Adria Rail will continue carrying out its business as usual, albeit as a METRANS Group subsidiary in the Croatian and Serbian markets. Indicatively, Adria Rail covers 70 per cent of container transport along the Croatia-Serbia corridor and serves traffic to and from the major Croatian port of Rijeka.

Business has already started

On top of the activities mentioned above, Adria Rail also operates the Indija terminal between Belgrade and Novi Sad in Serbia. With the 51 per cent stake acquisition from the company in March 2023, METRANS basically became the terminal’s operator. This was the first-ever rail terminal operated by the HHLA subsidiary in Serbia.

Of course, a new terminal means opportunities for new connections. METRANS did not waste its time, and just a couple of months after taking over the Indija terminal, it launched a new service connecting it with its HUB rail terminal in Budapest.

Almost simultaneously, it started a service between the HUB terminal and the port of Rijeka while also linking Rijeka with Indija, creating a triangular network between Serbia, Croatia, and Hungary. As a result, the network was already there, but with Adria Rail’s complete acquisition, METRANS has taken a decisive step in becoming a leading transport player also in the Balkan region.