In 1936, it was decided to develop the Port of Ploče, as the site at the mouth of the Neretva on the Adriatic coast represented the natural outlet for the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was then part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Preparations included the construction of a railway between Metković and Ploče, as an extension of the railway from Sarajevo. The railway was completed in 1942, three years after construction of the port commenced in 1939. The works were delayed by the onset of World War II, but they were intensified in 1945 after modernization of the Sarajevo–Ploče narrow gauge railway.
