Croatia: The Poslovni dnevnik media outlet has announced this decision made by the Slovak wagon holding.
After nine years of bankruptcy, the plant in Zagreb was purchased by Tatravagonka in 2021. TŽV Gredelj’s officials stated that it was the owner that made a decision to step-by-step cease the activities. The reason is the current unfavourable situation in the freight wagon market.
The plant is still implementing several contracts which are to be completed by the end of the year. In particular, TŽV Gredelj is due to deliver 40 container flatcars for the logistics company Innofreight. The €2 bln Memorandum of Understanding for around 1,000 wagons through 2032 was signed in 2022.
TŽV Gredelj was founded in 1894 as the Hungarian State Railways’ main workshop for locomotive repair. Tatravagonka acquired the bankrupt plant in 2021 and promised it would invest €70 mln into the 40,000 m2 facility and increase the staff to 1,000 employees. In 2022, the plant in Zagreb made record revenue of €175 mln.
Nevertheless, the revenues were decreasing year by year. According to the latest report, the plant earned €115.2 mln with a net income of €4.5 mln in 2024. Poslovni dnevnik claims that Tatravagonka’s real investments were much lower and the number of employees reduced from 400 to 300 people in four years. The media outlet explains it by the relocation of part of production activities from Zagreb to other Tatravagonka’s sites in Europe, while the manufacturer referred to cost optimisation as the reason for these processes.
The negative dynamic in the European freight car market in 2025–2026 was earlier admitted by another player, Greenbrier. The American producer had to close its two sites last year, the wagon manufacturing plant in Arad, Romania, and the car repair facility in Oława, Poland.
