The first railway section on the territory of today's Republic of Croatia, then part of the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, was built in 1860 in Međimurje: the railway line from Nagykanizsa in Hungary via Čakovec and Kotoriba continued to Pragerski in Slovenia.

[5] Railroads that connected Rijeka, the most important port in Croatia, with Trieste (and further with Vienna), and with Zagreb (and further with Budapest ) were put into service in 1873.

The original decision in SFR Yugoslavia was to use 3 kV DC electrification for the railway network.

HŽ was considering the purchase of dual-voltage locomotives, as an alternative to full re-electrification of 3 kV DC tracks, but the idea was scrapped for good as all electrified railways in Croatia are now using 25 kV/50 Hz.

As far as the infrastructure is concerned, the specified speed can currently be achieved on part of the international corridor Novska - Tovarnik, more precisely on the relatively short sections Novska-Okučani and Vinkovci-Tovarnik.