About this journey

Split station sits at the southern terminus of line M604, the single rail link connecting Croatia's Dalmatian coast to the continental interior. The Knin–Split section of this line was built in 1888 and historically known as the Dalmatian railway, while the northern Lika railway section, completed on 25 July 1925, extended the connection all the way to Zagreb. Construction of the Lika railway had begun in spring 1913, with some 14,000 workers employed by June 1914, and the 320 km line proved difficult to keep intact: partisan forces blew up the Čupkovići viaduct near Plavno in March 1943, and during the 1991–1995 Croatian War of Independence the Simac tunnel caved in and numerous stations were damaged, with repair costs estimated at HRK 50 million. Reconstruction work carried out in 2004 and 2005 reduced sharp curves and steep gradients and introduced new signalling, substantially cutting travel times.

Departing Split, the route passes through tunnels that form part of the Split suburban railway opened on 10 December 2006, before the line emerges into open country and heads north toward Knin. The M604 remains single-track and diesel-operated throughout this segment — electrification ends far to the north at Ogulin. Over its 220 km Lika section alone, the line stands as the only operating rail connection between the Dalmatian coast and continental Croatia.