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| Slovenian Railways | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
 | |||||
| Operation | |||||
| National railway | Slovenske železnice | ||||
| Statistics | |||||
| Ridership | 13.42 million(2017)[1] | ||||
| Passenger km | 650 million km(2017)[1] | ||||
| Freight | 4.4 billion tonne-km(2017)[1] | ||||
| System length | |||||
| Total | 1,209 kilometres (751 mi)[1] | ||||
| Double track | 331 km (206 mi)[1] | ||||
| Electrified | 610 km (380 mi)[1] | ||||
| Track gauge | |||||
| Main | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)standard gauge | ||||
| High-speed | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) | ||||
| |||||
Slovenian Railways (Slovene:Slovenske železnice,SŽ) is the staterailway company ofSlovenia, created in 1991.
Slovenia is a member of theInternational Union of Railways (UIC). TheUIC Country Code for Slovenia is 79.
What is nowSlovenia received its first railway connection in the 1840s, when theAustrian Empire built a railway connection – Südliche Staatsbahn orAustrian Southern Railway – between its capital,Vienna, and its major commercial port,Trieste. Thus,Maribor was connected by railway toGraz in 1844. The stretch was extended viaPragersko toCelje in 1846, and further viaZidani Most toLjubljana in 1849. A double-track line was continued viaPostojna,Pivka, andDivača, finally reachingTrieste in 1857.
BeforeWorld War I, numerous other railways were built. In 1860, Pragersko was connected toOrmož and further toČakovec, Croatia, thus connecting the Austrian and the Hungarian parts of the empire. In 1862, a single-track railway (expanded into double-track in 1944) along theSava river was built, connecting Zidani Most withZagreb. In 1863, the "Carinthian railway" was built along theDrava river, connectingMaribor withDravograd,Klagenfurt andVillach. In 1870, a railway along the upper Sava river valley was built, connecting Ljubljana withKranj,Jesenice andTarvisio, Italy. In 1873, a line from Pivka viaIllirska Bistrica connectedRijeka, then the most important commercial port in the Hungarian part of the empire. In 1876, a line from Divača connectedPula, the Austrian naval base, viaPrešnica. In 1906,Bohinj Railway was built, connecting Villach with Jesenice, along theSoča river valley toGorizia and further to Trieste, with two over 6000 meter tunnels.
Few lines were opened after World War I. One of them connected Ormož withLjutomer andMurska Sobota, and opened in 1924. AfterWorld War II, a single-track electrified line connecting Prešnica withKoper was built in 1967.
Slovenian Railways (Slovene:Slovenske železnice,SŽ), the staterailway company ofSlovenia, was created in 1991 from theLjubljana division of the formerYugoslav Railways after the breakup ofYugoslavia.
In 1999, a single-track line between Murska Sobota andHodoš was rebuilt, offering a direct connection with the Hungarian railway system. The line was originally built in 1907 and closed down in 1968, among numerous other lines closed down during the 1960s. In April 2016 the electrification of the Pragersko - Hodoš line was completed.[2]
Numerous ex-Yugoslav Railwayssteam locomotives are plinthed at stations around Slovenia and there is arailway museum at Ljubljana.
Slovenian Railways operates 1,229 km ofstandard gauge tracks, 331 km asdouble track, and reaches all regions of the country. Slovenia is well connected by rail to all surrounding countries, reflecting the fact that it used to be part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and later part of Yugoslavia. Left-hand running is used on double-track sections, unlike the remainder of the former Yugoslavian railways.
Electrification is provided by a 3 kV DC system and covers 610 km, with electrification from Pragersko to Hodoš on the Corridor V completed in April 2016. The remainder of the former Yugoslavian railways that have been electrified operate with the25 kV AC system, so trains to Zagreb have to change engines atDobova in the absence of dual voltage engines. The DC system was inherited from the ItalianFerrovie dello Stato on the Sežana-Pivka-Postojna and Pivka-Ilirska Bistrica-Šapjane lines, which were electrified in 1936; starting in 1962, further electrification was conducted with the same system, to preserve compatibility. This also necessitated different rolling stock compared to the rest of Yugoslavia: afterWorld War II, the newly formed Slovenian division ofYugoslav Railways received 17FS Class E.626 locomotives as war reparations for operation on the formerly Italian-owned lines, with newly produced electrical traction vehicles coming in 1962 after electrification was extended from Postojna to Ljubljana (JŽ class 362), 1964 (JŽ class 311), 1967 (JŽ Class 342) and 1975-1977 (JŽ class 363). Due to the Croatian sector of the national railways (as well as the sectors of the other republics of Yugoslavia) choosing the more modern25 kV system, a voltage break was created inDobova, which necessitates locomotive switching. Another voltage break arose in Croatia inŠapjane in 2012 after Croatia switched their own 3 kV network that ran aroundRijeka to the 25 kV standard.
Ljubljana is at the heart of the SŽ system. Here, thePan-European corridors V and X intersect. These transportation corridors are being established to tie larger segments of Europe economically together: Corridor V linksVenice -Trieste/Koper -Ljubljana -Maribor -Budapest -Kyiv, while Corridor X connectsSalzburg -Ljubljana -Zagreb -Belgrade -Skopje -Thessalonica. The freight system to Koper, a modern and growing port near Trieste, represents the shortest connection to the Mediterranean for a large portion of thehinterland of Central and Eastern Europe.
In 2010, Slovenske Železnice joinedCargo 10, a joint venture with other railways in the region.[3]
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TheICS trains are modern, air-conditionedhigh-speed trains which provide the highest level comfort and reach speeds up to 160 km/h. They are equipped with disabled access and other facilities. The passengers can buy food on board (from Monday to Friday), the 1st class passengers are offered a drink free of charge. There are also electric sockets in the 1st class department. The train is atiltingEMU. The reservation of a seat is obligatory and is included in the price of the ticket. Also included in the price of the ticket is the obligatory ICS supplement.[4]
The ICS trains run on the line betweenMaribor andLjubljana and stop at:
In the past ICS trains occasionally also ran on the line fromLjubljana toKoper and stopped at:
TheIC trains are quality trains serving longer distances in national and international traffic. They connect bigger towns, cities and tourist resorts. They consist of comfortable cars. They provide fast connection and call only at major stations. The train usually consists of open or compartment coaches (1st and 2nd class). Some of the trains may have arestaurant car. An IC supplement must be paid for this type of train.
TheEC trains are high-quality trains serving important lines in international traffic. They connect important cities in Slovenia and the rest of Europe. The EC trains are even faster than the IC trains and they call at fewer stations. The majority of the EC trains include air-conditioned cars and have catering facilities on board. The train usually consists of open and compartment passenger coaches (1st and 2nd class). Some of the trains may have arestaurant car. An EC supplement must be paid for this type of train.
The MV trains (Slovene formednarodni vlak, international train) are quality trains serving international lines. They do not call at minor stations. The train usually consists of open and compartment passenger coaches (1st and 2nd class). Some of the trains may have arestaurant car. An MV supplement must be paid for this type of train.
TheEN trains are high-quality overnight international trains. They offer open or compartment passenger coaches (1st and 2nd class),couchette cars andsleeping cars. Some of the trains may have arestaurant car. The EC supplement must be paid for regular seats and an additional supplement must be paid for couchettes and sleeper cars. Some EN trains use "global" prices with an obligatory reservation.
The RG and LP (Slovene forlokalni potniški, local passenger train) trains are other trains, connecting all parts of Slovenia. They serve as commuter trains. On some lines, they are the only type of trains available, for example lines toKamnik andImeno. The trains offer 2nd class and the new Stadler trains also offer 1st class. They are usuallyEMUs andDMUs on unelectrified lines.
In addition to the supplements for faster trains, there is also one for tickets bought on the train instead of beforehand.[5] It is set at€5.00, and no discount is available for children, the elderly, groups, and so on.[citation needed]
Many trains are assigned names. The examples include:[5]
A noted train of the SŽ was theCasanova linking Ljubljana toVenice in a 4-hour ride, eliminated in April 2007.Last train connection with Italy, night train EN 440 / 441 "Venezia" fromBudapest to Venice was eliminated in December 2011.
Besides Slovenia's national railway operator,Adria Transport, Slovenia's firstopen-access operator dedicated to freight transport, also operates in the nation's network.
| Diesel locomotives | .JPG) | |
|---|---|---|
| Electric locomotives | ||
| DMUs | ||
| EMUs | ||
