BOSNIA & Herzegovina Railways (ZBH) has been fortunate to secure from German Railway a fleet of rolling stock to help it restore services to its 1021 route-km war-torn network. Eight diesel locomotives, 28 wagons, a tamper and ballast plough were included in an initial consignment of rolling stock dispatched to Sarajevo towards the end of last year. Part of the aid package originally agreed two years ago covers driver training at German locomotive depots and in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
DB Head of Procurement Wolfgang Gemeinhardt who has overseen the deal said that restoring rail services in Bosnia was ’decisive for economic reconstruction’. One project would see car maker VW send components by rail from Germany to a Bosnian assembly plant, so creating jobs that would allow refugees who had fled to Germany to return home.
Later shipments of aid material from Germany will include maintenance equipment and passenger coaches.
