wait till he finds out there are only like 2 of these trains in whole of slovenske železnice, the other trains are all from the yugoslavian era =D so u can imagine how fast and useful our railway system is, definitely nothing to do with corruption ;)
The track itself is the biggest problem of Ljubljana - Maribor route. The route was built in 19th century to connect Vienna to Austria-Hungary's most important port, Trieste. From Celje to Ljubljana they built it through the narrow Sava gorge, so that trains could stop at the coal-mining towns on the way (Trbovlje, Hrastnik). But the gorge is twisty, narrow and doesnt't allow for fast speeds nor expansion. Rock-falling is also quite common. From Maribor to Celje the route is pretty bendy as well. That's why the trains, even the fast ones, are not very competitive with cars on this route - the highways were built much later and take a much more direct route between the biggest 2 cities. Delays are also common due to bottlenecks in freight traffic. I really hope one day the train system is improved enough that trains will be faster and more competitive. They are upgrading Celje-Maribor track and Ljubljana Railway Station (finally) which I'm looking forward to.
Not only modernisation but also a new track should ve built ower Žalec and Zreče, that rout would ebable straighter tracks and higher soeeds. Not ti mentiin that the stupborn reluctance of SŽ to change the electrufication standard is golding us back.
Is there some discussion about a new railway in this direction? Something in the style of Koralmbahn, for both passenger and freight transit and some new regional stations for semi-fast trains, that could be ideal in Slovenia.
I'm glad our narrator does a good job (i assume?) of pronouncing the local language place-names, rather than simply mangling them or spending time apologizing. I believe he is doing it right.
his pronounciation is very good for a non native speaker, though its still very noticably off-sounding to a native speaker (like myself), but i still think he did a very good job as i know how weird the slovene words can be
The pronunciation for someone who isn't a native is amazing, most notably around the letters LJ and C, former probably being the most difficult letter to pronounce for anyone whose mother tongue is English :) (I assume).
Don't be too optimistic. I'm now nearing the age of 70 and one of my first memories as a kid (more than 60 years ago) is the talking that the new train station would be built in Ljubljana. I won't believe it until I see it. As to the delays, they are constant as there are always works on the line going on, but they are patching kilometer by kilometer with no visible results after the works on one section done (the speeds remain more or less the same). They should shave off some of the sharpest corners, but that would require rerouting of some sections, which would be a good idea as Slovenia can't afford dedicated HS lines. And though Pendolino runs considerably faster than the other trains, presently it can not compete with driving (even with dense traffic you easily make it in 1h15 by car). Of course, they are a bit tired now and should be refurbished, but I'm afraid that the new seats would be less comfortable as it usually happens with refurbishment.
I rode on one of these trains when I travelled from Graz (A) to Maribor and I was very amazed by how comfortable these trains were in comparison to our Austrian Trains. I love Slovenia, it's like our country but slavic and with the adriatic as an addition. ;)
@@mag1765WTF? Slovenia is like 30 years old while Austria is 1000+. In the beginning pretty much all of Slovenia was part of Austria and some provinces that are now Austrian were not. Back then Austria was pretty much Slavic and Bavarian I guess, pretty much the regions where we have the same folk music, but Graz or Gradec was never in Slovenia.
Hello from Slovenia, nice of you that you made a vid about our trains. Our central station in Ljubljana is getting rebuild and it will be a really modern one. Ice cream and skates are forbidden because of school kids, they were making a real mess with it. Too bad i didnt know you were in Slovenia, i would meet you in Celje station and we could have a drink 🙂
My grandpa worked with his comrades on Zidani Most after the WWII. He was very proud when he talked about it... Got 15 euros bonus on his small pension. He would spent it on a lunch and beer with me... Cheers.
The viaduct shown at the beggining of the video is "Borovniški most", built in 19th century. It was destroyed in the second world war by the Allies, because it was the only freight train connection between Vienna and the Port of Trieste
Never been on Slovenian trains, but I got engaged in Bled castle back in 2009 and was so impressed by the country. It's stunning! Very underrated. I will have to go back to see Ljubljana and try out the trains once all those upgrades are done. It's great to see them investing heavily in rail. As for those Pendos. They look like they have solid bones. Just need an interior refresh really.
The rollerskates ban came from city busses at first, if memory serves. A lot of kids used to commute on rollerskates (me included) back in the late 90s/early 2000s and it was too chaotic. Ice cream has been banned even longer, far as I can remember (1990ish). And the unexplained delays you were encountering might have to do with high fatality rates (4 dead in 2023 in 3 accidents) among railyway workers here. I think they're taking extra precautions now.
Fun fact : Back in 1998 before the train was bought, the producer want to show Slovinian railway officials how fast the train with its tilting capabilitiy can be in a twistiy railway near the Sava river Some say that it was like in a roller coaster, 1/3 of officials vomited , then the speed was severely limited 😂
I remmember my parents taking me on a ride when this train was first introduced. The route was faster by 30min, reaching 200kmh and displaying the full speed like on a concorde right into the bends really felt more like flying than train travel!
I want to leave an anecdote about Maribor and an extremely obscure impact it has had on a German train station. There is a place called Marburg in Germany, but its station is called "Marburg (Lahn). That isn't wrong, Marburg is in fact by the river Lahn, but there isn't another Marburg in the German speaking world that would justify that, as is the case for Frankfurt (Main) and Frankfurt (Oder) for example. At least, not anymore, because Maribor was called Marburg back when it was a part of the Austrian Empire, so to differenciate between the two, the rivers on which they sit were included in the name. I kinda love that this historical anecdote lives on only in the name of one railway station.
At least in Austria it's still quite common to use the German names. It's probably more likely that they they think of the Slovenian "Marburg" and not the Hesse one.
10:00 it's dangerous to be on wheels when the train is moving haha. When I was a kid I took a short trip with my mom, in the middle of summer from Šentjur to Celje. It was packed with highschoolers riding to school. I mean really packed, all the seats taken. A couple of seats down there was this older bunch of kids and this punk looking guy with a mohawk had rollerskates on. When the train stopped in Štore, the mid point to Celje, two conductors came and grabbed the rollerskater who resisted like crazy, they literally dragged and threw him off the train. That was crazy.
I've been there a million times since i stop there when i go on holiday in Italy.I sometims stop at Maribor to.Nice lovely cities.Once,ive stayed at that large black tower in the background in the intro.
@@SuperalbsTravels It's a pity you had a connection onwards rather than stopping over in Maribor for a day. I stayed there for a couple of days in October last year. Yes I took quite a few pics and vids of trains coming into/departing from the station over that bridge, and going across the bridge 😀 I actually did your trip in the opposite direction taking the EC Emona that was at the platform when your pendolino was arriving in. My journey was also delayed due to the same works (There's a lot of rail upgrade works going in Slovenia - I also experienced it going south of Ljubljana towards Divaca going towards Trieste and Istrian peninsular in Croatia). Also last year there were record rains that damaged the rail line and resulted in delays between Ljubljana and Maribor. I think that's the main reason for your early delay. Slovenia is a great country - fantastic scenery and people. I hope you do the other lines - Ljubljana to Jesenice; the scenic Jesenice Line from there to Nova Gorica (another one often following a pretty topaz blue river) and the line Ljubljana to Pula in Croatia at the south coast of Istrian peninsular. Pula's very nice with it's Roman ruins and coloseum. The other thing with this last route is that traditionally it's used probably the oldest pax rolling stock in Slovenia (and unusually for Slovenia in a green livery) for EC Istria that runs seasonally in Summer. These are due to be replaced within the next couple of years so it would be cool for you to ride them and do a trip report before they disappear. Only thing is there's a lot of track work on the line down towards the Croatian Istrian border. Maybe you saw one of these old green trains at Ljubljana Station?
Thanks for the excellent report. Amazing how many beautiful train stations remain in use in Europe built by the Austro-Hungarian empire. The gritty soap may be a holdover from past times. It brings back fond memories of riding trains in Central Europe in the 1980s, when you would turn a wheel on the soap dispenser giving you the gritty soap...but it did the trick!
The renfe series 490 is a very similar train with also 3 coaches that were used in the Madrid-Valencia Alaris service on the classic line. However, with the construction of the high-speed line it not longer made sense and they stopped offering service in 2013 due to a poblem detected in the bogies. Supposedly, they are being refurbished to be used in some sort of medium distance higher-speed service but we don't know when or if they really will be seen again offering some sevice.
@@SuperalbsTravels Go check them out! :) And while you're at it, cross the pond to experience our new VIA Rail trainsets operating between Quebec City and Windsor, Ontario.
Slovenia bought around 50 new Stadler trains to update the fleet. Stadler trains are nice, but they aren't as comfortable as Pendolino, also they are lacking tables too. We had 3 Pendolino trains but one is out of service for some time now I think. In the summer new Stadler is used as ICS from Murska Sobota to Koper. It's really hard to sit for so long on Stadler seats, so we urgently need to upgrade Pendolinos or buy new intercity trains. We have plans for fast train track from Maribor to Ljubljana but probably at the end of the century.
I've been in Slovenia for a week back in 2001 - it's been great landscapes and nice people everywhere. Might it be mountains, woods or the sea (Adria) - everything you can enjoy there.
I saw this trains as well last month when I went to Slovenia by train. The "scissor pantograph" instead of the more common "single leg pantograph" on this rather new train quite surprised me
The pantograph is basically the italian type 52/90 that was the one commonly used by FS at the end of 90's/beginning of 2000's, changed a few years later with the more modern 52/92 type. The ETR310 is based on the ETR460 built just a few years before that had as well the same pantograph. The contact strip was changed during the years as the current one is different from the italian, but at the beginning i think they were the same (I saw videos and some pictures of SZ310 from early 2000s and I couldn't see if the old strip was identical to the italian or just similar, but looks the same)
Go! Even as far as NZ is away from Europe, I have been 4 times. It's a real gem and you get both the alps experience with some beautiful lakes (Bled and Bohinj etc), and coastal Adriatic experience down in Piran etc. Ljubljana is a cool little capital as well. Definitely one of my most fav countries.
Thank you. Compared to this the new Flirt has electric plugs everywhere, but no tables and no adjustable seats. Compared to Austrian cityjet (Desiro ML) it's inferior seating comfort, but used as MV (international express train) Ljubljana to Graz and Villach nowadays. I'll travel to Slovenia in August and probably going to use ICS at least on one way, I'll travel 1st class (looks very nice) and take a powerbank. "Pendolino Bar" is a small family business also operating some station buffets and the restaurant car of the EC "Emona" (Wien - Ljubljana).
Make sure you have some cash. I ran out of time at Maribor to load up and then found restaurant car on Emona was strictly cash only 😭*(Big fail for my taking Emona especially as I took it over taking the pendolino when I went to Ljubljana just because of its dining car doh!) Talking associated business, at Maribor Stn, and more so at Ljubljana Stn and the Railway Museum there, there are SZ railfan goods available to purchase including a SZ Flirt EMU tote bag 😀 I got myself a few things. *I think Europeans are more used to still carry cash, NZers hardly have any cash in their wallets or purses these days.
Looks really neat, but I do hope the line gets some more speed upgrades one way or another given its importance in connecting Slovenias major cities. Even just smaller ones, and perhaps getting some newer tilting trains.
I love how "Slovenske železnice" can literally be translated as "Slovak railways" 😂 Thankfully, our operator is Slovakia has a different name, so, no confusion there. It's always funny that these two countries have to exchange misplaced mail regularly.
When I went on a interrail trip last summer with one of my friends we were really surprised cause of the super modern Pragersko station in such a small town. We had to wait there for another train. Only downside is that there are no electrical boards. So we could only look on some paper boards and hope for the best 😂
If you again visit Slovenia you should go on tourist wine train wich drives beetwen Gorica and Ajdovscina on Vipava wine valley. It is unique expirience because on train you will have a wine degustation and have some stops at villages in vine cellars and cantines around train track. If you like a local food specialitetes and local wines than you can make reservation in advance. Second turistic attracition is ride with steam locomotive and wagons from 19 century from Bled to Kanal ob Soci on Bohinj Alpine route wich was build by AH army for war purpuses beetwen 1 ww because there was Soca front nearby.
This days more common are Stadler trains and on local routes siemes trains delays are preatty common due to a lot of infastructure work on, but despite that you can make transfer most of time.
I technically did. We have these in Portugal, they're Pendolinos from FIAT and they're not at all “crazy”. Hopefully we can buy and repurpose some of these one day, as we've lost a few EMUs to accidents in level crossings and with track maintenance machines already.
Thanks for your great video's. I cannot travel anymore so watching you & your Internet friends (love the way you join up) is just awesome. I wonder how my Dalmatian puppy would do on that train? He'd make a lot of people laugh that's for sure. Enjoy & stay safe
An onboard beer for €3.20 would be considered cheap in Australia, let alone that you'd hardly get a beer on a train here. Can't even buy one for that much in a pub.
There was an extreme problem with rollerblading enthusiasts in the mid 2000s. They would roar up and down the aisles whilst flinging ice cream (and not just vanilla) at unsuspecting travellers. Most uncouth. Clearly this was not an issue on these trains, as they are newer, but once bitten, twice shy, or so say the corporate bigwigs, and so the signage continues to denounce this erstwhile behavioural plague. Now it seems to be en vogue to make awesome rail travel videos instead. This is very right on! :)
There are plans to reinstate a Slovenia-Italy train from Lubiana to Venice and Milan, via Sezana (the Slovenian (former) border station); currently italian trains stop at Villa Opicina (the (former) italian border station)
The view reminds me of when I took the Railjet in Austria to go from Graz to Salzburg, it's also pretty close to a river and I think that's one of the best views I've had on a train
Zidani most means more in a line of brick/stone bridge or not wooden verb zidati means to construct,zidar means bricklayer stone bridge is kamniti most
If I would ride that train? Totally! 👍Especially since I live in Villach (close to the border to Slovenia). I could make a round trip. Villach-Ljubljana- Maribor-Graz-Villach. Or the other way around. 😎
Here is a recent Cab Ride of this journey (during this winter) with all the clicking sounds of the cabin. You can also see pretty unique speed limit signage on Slovenian railways (three numbers on yellow boards) - top number is for ICS tilting train, middle number is for light EMU/DMU trains and bottom one for locomotive hauled passenger and cargo trains. th-cam.com/video/GmiEjbSjpYY/w-d-xo.html
Maribor or Marburg is well worth a visit. Sitting in acafe on the river .is a lovely experience.coffee is a different flavour to what you tasted in Austria or Croatia.Slovenia have their owmnsigniture bean roast.its nice but different!?😊
@@SuperalbsTravels Yip, Maribor, the lakes Bled, and Bohinj, and Piran on the Adriatic coast (train to Koper and bus to Piran) are all fantastic. Pula down at the end of the Istrian Line in Croatia which can be reached by rail from Ljubljana and traditionally has had a direct Summer seasonal EC service is also well worth doing. You need to be spending more time on the rails in Slovenia!
The 310 trains wont be around for to long tho as getting spare parts for it has become a problem and its the reason we only have 2 in operation as the third one is used for spare parts. They were originally bought for Ljubljana - Venice back in 2000 and were basically never intended to be profitable and only used as a show train , that why we only bought 3 sets lol
I listened in the background so maybe i missed it, did he mention Borovnica Viaduct? Probably the only impressive thing worth mentioning😀 “The viaduct was completed in 1856 and spanned the Borovnica Valley along the route from Vienna to Trieste vie Ljubljana. During its construction and for some decades afterward it was the largest stone bridge in Europe. It was 561 meters (1,841 ft) long and 38 meters (125 ft) high. The structure was planned by Carl Ritter von Ghega and construction began in 1850, lasting until August 1856, when the first train crossed it. It was a two-story structure; the first story consisted of 22 arches, and the second story had 25 arches. It was supported by 24 columns built of dressed stone that stood on wooden pilings driven into the loamy marsh soil. The arches were built of brick. The construction required one million cubic feet of broken stone, five million bricks, and one million cubic feet of stone blocks.” Wiki
Unfortunately there is nothing much to see, one single column left, it was dismantled (or whatever is the right word) after ww2. Germans build another route during ww2 bcs they anticipated it will be bombed and since it was in bad condition already before ww2 (i believe atleast some trains very limited to 5km/h bcs condition was so bad) they just used the new German line, atleast i believe that is what happened..
Slovenia has some really scenic railways, particularly the Bohinj railway, running from Jesenice to Sežana. It’s a slow diesel line, but historically extremely important and the views are just incredible. I also love the part between Divača and Koper, which is the cause for major headaches in Slovenian rail network (and trust me there are many). It’s best experienced on a late summer afternoon. The sunset beautifully lights the rock formations and there is an amazing view of the coastline. We are actually building another alignment for this part of the network, because the line is very overcrowded, so you have to hurry a bit before it closes.
@@gab_v250 Yeah it is the most likely and the most popular option. There’s many safety issues with the current alignment, a very steep grade aside, the line was actually responsible for causing a couple of smaller forest fires in the area. That being said it will only happen when the second track on the new alignment is ready, which will be later, given that it was initially a one track alignment. They might keep a part of the line to run the services to Pula
Yes the Bohinj railway, and the lake itself are wonderful. It's also got the funniest border crossing I have ever done - Walking across the Nova Gorica Stn carpark to the bus stop at the other side of the carpark, which in doing so crosses from Slovenia into Italy! Yes I went from Ljubljana to Pula in October last year. So many works. my long day journey was train, then rail replacement bus, then another bit by train to Divača then rail replacement minivan to Croatian border station then finally local Croatian train to Pula! Not quite the journey I had originally hoped for! That line in Istria is pretty nice too with some wonderful little stations and great views over the valleys etc from them high up on the ridge.
Tilting trains date from the 1950s, and they counter the problem of centrifugal force when the train is going fast on turns in traditional tracks with no incline. Probably the most famous example is Amtrak's Acela, developed by Bombarier in 2000. It runs fast on traditional and older track, hence the tilting.
The Pendolino is easily the most famous example for tilting trains. The Acela doesn‘t even have tilt on all cars, only on the unpowered passenger cars.
Hey, You just neet to know that tracks are outdated , and like you see they just start to work on it since Austroogerska time, now they are making +1 track all across slovenia and all platforms so when local trains stops every station that ics and other trains can pass in the middle so that tou wont have unknow reason that you are late... They drop sppeed so you dont neet to wait in middle of truck till station is cleard (hope you iunderatad what i mean). They have calculated how slow they need to go to reach empty station, so you dont have filling on stopping xD
Great vidéo! Will you check the Intercity Corelia Liners in 1st class on the Bordeaux - Nantes line some day? It's very peculiar but the first class is really good !
A similar distance (by ~3 miles) would be London Euston - Birmingham New Street. Surprisingly, tickets just a day in advance can be had for £9 - £13 or so, which is incredible. However, some on the day and peak trains are £66 - £100.
Those chairs remind me of ice chairs, those blue plastics tend to give it away, not a bad thing tho as it means there are plenty of parts to repair them and tend to be very comfortable
Running 15 minutes late sounds about right for non-tilting speed on that line. You can very distinctly feel active tilting on the Pendolino. Why is the other question. Maybe the trackside equipment for higher speeds was out of order due to the construction works, or the Pendolino simply zonked out it's tilting again.... Also: Wow, blast from the past indeed. Those are the original seats used on the ICE3...
Lovely country, Slovenia - an old friend of mine worked there for a couple of years back in the early 2000s, and insisted it was the most beautiful country in Europe (I prefer Switzerland myself). Looked like a fun ride - but you're a bit harsh on the seat fabric IMO - I thought it was cool, something different rather than a bland single colour velour or leather.
Actually the line between Ljubljana and Maribor has seen a number of upgrades in the last 20 years, with the investment cost probably (I don't know the exact number) approaching a billion EUR. However, the aim of these upgrades was mainly to: i) allow 22.5t axle load for freight trains and locomotives, ii) remove level crossings to make road traffic safer and faster, iii) interoperable signalling, iv) stations with wheelchair accessible platforms. Speed of passenger services was not really a factor. There would certainly be many possibitlities to straighten the bends with little effort (like some new short tunnels), but that would require modifications of the spatial plan and nobody wanted to take on that burden. As a consequence, the scheduled journey time, after all the upgrades, is 5 minutes longer than when the Pendolino was first introduced.
that Highspeed train is identical to the Alfa Pendular High Speed Train in Portugal! same design but in Portugal we have 10 units with 6 carrages now 9 cuz 1 got w/o in collision with rail works
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I love how this guy makes Slovenske Železnice actually look competent.
Also the pronunciation is on point, bravo👏
The only one he really messed up was Ptuj. That one took me a bit to realise which town he meant
The speech is probably computer generated.
pretty good but not on point
fun fact, in Slovakia we also have "Slovenské železnice"
wait till he finds out there are only like 2 of these trains in whole of slovenske železnice, the other trains are all from the yugoslavian era =D so u can imagine how fast and useful our railway system is, definitely nothing to do with corruption ;)
The track itself is the biggest problem of Ljubljana - Maribor route. The route was built in 19th century to connect Vienna to Austria-Hungary's most important port, Trieste. From Celje to Ljubljana they built it through the narrow Sava gorge, so that trains could stop at the coal-mining towns on the way (Trbovlje, Hrastnik). But the gorge is twisty, narrow and doesnt't allow for fast speeds nor expansion. Rock-falling is also quite common. From Maribor to Celje the route is pretty bendy as well. That's why the trains, even the fast ones, are not very competitive with cars on this route - the highways were built much later and take a much more direct route between the biggest 2 cities. Delays are also common due to bottlenecks in freight traffic. I really hope one day the train system is improved enough that trains will be faster and more competitive. They are upgrading Celje-Maribor track and Ljubljana Railway Station (finally) which I'm looking forward to.
Not only modernisation but also a new track should ve built ower Žalec and Zreče, that rout would ebable straighter tracks and higher soeeds.
Not ti mentiin that the stupborn reluctance of SŽ to change the electrufication standard is golding us back.
@@Languslangus the italian legacy 3KV DC one?
@@gab_v250 yes
So frustrating. Going by car only takes half the time.
Is there some discussion about a new railway in this direction? Something in the style of Koralmbahn, for both passenger and freight transit and some new regional stations for semi-fast trains, that could be ideal in Slovenia.
I'm glad our narrator does a good job (i assume?) of pronouncing the local language place-names, rather than simply mangling them or spending time apologizing. I believe he is doing it right.
Slovenian is a very hard language to learn and this guy is doing a great job.
He tries to pronounce as natively as possible. I commend him for his effort
his pronounciation is very good for a non native speaker, though its still very noticably off-sounding to a native speaker (like myself), but i still think he did a very good job as i know how weird the slovene words can be
The pronunciation for someone who isn't a native is amazing, most notably around the letters LJ and C, former probably being the most difficult letter to pronounce for anyone whose mother tongue is English :) (I assume).
All the best from Slovenia!
We are building a huge new train station in Ljubljana and it'll be completed in a few years. Make sure to re-visit us! :D
Thanks! That sounds really good, I will be back. :)
Don't be too optimistic. I'm now nearing the age of 70 and one of my first memories as a kid (more than 60 years ago) is the talking that the new train station would be built in Ljubljana. I won't believe it until I see it. As to the delays, they are constant as there are always works on the line going on, but they are patching kilometer by kilometer with no visible results after the works on one section done (the speeds remain more or less the same). They should shave off some of the sharpest corners, but that would require rerouting of some sections, which would be a good idea as Slovenia can't afford dedicated HS lines. And though Pendolino runs considerably faster than the other trains, presently it can not compete with driving (even with dense traffic you easily make it in 1h15 by car). Of course, they are a bit tired now and should be refurbished, but I'm afraid that the new seats would be less comfortable as it usually happens with refurbishment.
@@SuperalbsTravels make sure to post about being in slovenia as a lot of us (me too) will come to see you :)
@@maxart3392a zivis ti pod Skalo, da ne vids gromozanskih lukn okol zeleznce
Like that's gonna help hahaha
I rode on one of these trains when I travelled from Graz (A) to Maribor and I was very amazed by how comfortable these trains were in comparison to our Austrian Trains. I love Slovenia, it's like our country but slavic and with the adriatic as an addition. ;)
Hahaha 🤣🇸🇮
Is it BI-Mode or Pantograph only?
@@metropolitantrainspotting1993 Electric only
Maybe because Graz was originally Slovenian? ;)
@@mag1765WTF? Slovenia is like 30 years old while Austria is 1000+. In the beginning pretty much all of Slovenia was part of Austria and some provinces that are now Austrian were not. Back then Austria was pretty much Slavic and Bavarian I guess, pretty much the regions where we have the same folk music, but Graz or Gradec was never in Slovenia.
As a Slovenian, I would ride it. Also guys you won't believe me but... today my train came ON TIME!!! It wasn't the usual 7min delay!
Hello from Slovenia, nice of you that you made a vid about our trains. Our central station in Ljubljana is getting rebuild and it will be a really modern one. Ice cream and skates are forbidden because of school kids, they were making a real mess with it. Too bad i didnt know you were in Slovenia, i would meet you in Celje station and we could have a drink 🙂
My grandpa worked with his comrades on Zidani Most after the WWII. He was very proud when he talked about it... Got 15 euros bonus on his small pension. He would spent it on a lunch and beer with me... Cheers.
I've taken the train from Zagreb to Ljubljana and back as a day trip. The scenary along the Sava is beautiful.
The viaduct shown at the beggining of the video is "Borovniški most", built in 19th century. It was destroyed in the second world war by the Allies, because it was the only freight train connection between Vienna and the Port of Trieste
You should try ridding the normal commuter train in Ljubljana, that's the experience you'll never forget.
Never been on Slovenian trains, but I got engaged in Bled castle back in 2009 and was so impressed by the country. It's stunning! Very underrated. I will have to go back to see Ljubljana and try out the trains once all those upgrades are done. It's great to see them investing heavily in rail. As for those Pendos. They look like they have solid bones. Just need an interior refresh really.
12:28 fun fact! that is one sž 315 trains, which are a version of the polish en57 units that was exported to yugoslavia back in the 1960s!
Gomulka
The rollerskates ban came from city busses at first, if memory serves. A lot of kids used to commute on rollerskates (me included) back in the late 90s/early 2000s and it was too chaotic. Ice cream has been banned even longer, far as I can remember (1990ish). And the unexplained delays you were encountering might have to do with high fatality rates (4 dead in 2023 in 3 accidents) among railyway workers here. I think they're taking extra precautions now.
The delays are because of track work, the whole trace from Zidani Most to Maribor is being refurbished or new track laid.
Thank you for the video. Is the best. 🙏🇸🇮💪🇸🇮
As a massive Pendolino fan, this was awesome to watch! Loving the early 2000s style!
Fun fact :
Back in 1998 before the train was bought, the producer want to show Slovinian railway officials how fast the train with its tilting capabilitiy can be in a twistiy railway near the Sava river
Some say that it was like in a roller coaster, 1/3 of officials vomited , then the speed was severely limited 😂
@@MK-bv6wn That sounds amazing!
I remmember my parents taking me on a ride when this train was first introduced. The route was faster by 30min, reaching 200kmh and displaying the full speed like on a concorde right into the bends really felt more like flying than train travel!
they were pushing it but was soon adjusted for safety considering risks of snow/landslides on the track..
I bet that was an amazing experience, truly a different era!
5:21 That's why ŽS' livery looks like (Blue-white with a little bit of other colors, just like PKP InterCity in my country).
Yes! :)
I want to leave an anecdote about Maribor and an extremely obscure impact it has had on a German train station. There is a place called Marburg in Germany, but its station is called "Marburg (Lahn). That isn't wrong, Marburg is in fact by the river Lahn, but there isn't another Marburg in the German speaking world that would justify that, as is the case for Frankfurt (Main) and Frankfurt (Oder) for example. At least, not anymore, because Maribor was called Marburg back when it was a part of the Austrian Empire, so to differenciate between the two, the rivers on which they sit were included in the name. I kinda love that this historical anecdote lives on only in the name of one railway station.
Yes, it used to be called Marburg an der Drau in the 19th century.
At least in Austria it's still quite common to use the German names.
It's probably more likely that they they think of the Slovenian "Marburg" and not the Hesse one.
Which reminds me - quite unrelated - of why the French like Graz: "C'est une ville de Graz sur la rivière de la Mur."
@@rolandbol7350, maybe because of Illirian provinces?
10:00 it's dangerous to be on wheels when the train is moving haha.
When I was a kid I took a short trip with my mom, in the middle of summer from Šentjur to Celje.
It was packed with highschoolers riding to school. I mean really packed, all the seats taken.
A couple of seats down there was this older bunch of kids and this punk looking guy with a mohawk had rollerskates on. When the train stopped in Štore, the mid point to Celje, two conductors came and grabbed the rollerskater who resisted like crazy, they literally dragged and threw him off the train. That was crazy.
Thank you, that you mentiond my city Trbovlje
I've been there a million times since i stop there when i go on holiday in Italy.I sometims stop at Maribor to.Nice lovely cities.Once,ive stayed at that large black tower in the background in the intro.
Sounds good, it's a lovely little country.
@@SuperalbsTravels It's a pity you had a connection onwards rather than stopping over in Maribor for a day. I stayed there for a couple of days in October last year. Yes I took quite a few pics and vids of trains coming into/departing from the station over that bridge, and going across the bridge 😀 I actually did your trip in the opposite direction taking the EC Emona that was at the platform when your pendolino was arriving in. My journey was also delayed due to the same works (There's a lot of rail upgrade works going in Slovenia - I also experienced it going south of Ljubljana towards Divaca going towards Trieste and Istrian peninsular in Croatia). Also last year there were record rains that damaged the rail line and resulted in delays between Ljubljana and Maribor. I think that's the main reason for your early delay.
Slovenia is a great country - fantastic scenery and people. I hope you do the other lines - Ljubljana to Jesenice; the scenic Jesenice Line from there to Nova Gorica (another one often following a pretty topaz blue river) and the line Ljubljana to Pula in Croatia at the south coast of Istrian peninsular. Pula's very nice with it's Roman ruins and coloseum. The other thing with this last route is that traditionally it's used probably the oldest pax rolling stock in Slovenia (and unusually for Slovenia in a green livery) for EC Istria that runs seasonally in Summer. These are due to be replaced within the next couple of years so it would be cool for you to ride them and do a trip report before they disappear. Only thing is there's a lot of track work on the line down towards the Croatian Istrian border. Maybe you saw one of these old green trains at Ljubljana Station?
Thanks for the excellent report. Amazing how many beautiful train stations remain in use in Europe built by the Austro-Hungarian empire. The gritty soap may be a holdover from past times. It brings back fond memories of riding trains in Central Europe in the 1980s, when you would turn a wheel on the soap dispenser giving you the gritty soap...but it did the trick!
Ah yes, I've seen those powder soap dispensers too! 😅
The renfe series 490 is a very similar train with also 3 coaches that were used in the Madrid-Valencia Alaris service on the classic line. However, with the construction of the high-speed line it not longer made sense and they stopped offering service in 2013 due to a poblem detected in the bogies. Supposedly, they are being refurbished to be used in some sort of medium distance higher-speed service but we don't know when or if they really will be seen again offering some sevice.
Very interesting yet short history. 😅
@@SuperalbsTravels Go check them out! :) And while you're at it, cross the pond to experience our new VIA Rail trainsets operating between Quebec City and Windsor, Ontario.
Slovenia bought around 50 new Stadler trains to update the fleet. Stadler trains are nice, but they aren't as comfortable as Pendolino, also they are lacking tables too. We had 3 Pendolino trains but one is out of service for some time now I think. In the summer new Stadler is used as ICS from Murska Sobota to Koper. It's really hard to sit for so long on Stadler seats, so we urgently need to upgrade Pendolinos or buy new intercity trains. We have plans for fast train track from Maribor to Ljubljana but probably at the end of the century.
I love your videos, they are perfect! I think it would be a great idea to come and ride the Greek trains!😊
I've been in Slovenia for a week back in 2001 - it's been great landscapes and nice people everywhere. Might it be mountains, woods or the sea (Adria) - everything you can enjoy there.
It really is incredible! :)
Ah yes, love to see some credit given to the Slovenske železnice, really proud of them.
Almost like they aren't the worst in Europe in delays.
I used this train last week on the Spielfeld - Ljubljana route. Very comfortable seats, I liked it!
I saw this trains as well last month when I went to Slovenia by train. The "scissor pantograph" instead of the more common "single leg pantograph" on this rather new train quite surprised me
Absolutely, I did film the pantograph but it didn't fit into the video unfortunately.
The pantograph is basically the italian type 52/90 that was the one commonly used by FS at the end of 90's/beginning of 2000's, changed a few years later with the more modern 52/92 type. The ETR310 is based on the ETR460 built just a few years before that had as well the same pantograph. The contact strip was changed during the years as the current one is different from the italian, but at the beginning i think they were the same (I saw videos and some pictures of SZ310 from early 2000s and I couldn't see if the old strip was identical to the italian or just similar, but looks the same)
I am very impressed with your flawless pronunication of those tongue twsting names in various languages. Do you practice before you shoot videos?
I really enjoyed the video , Slovenia is a country I would love to visit 😁😁.
Go! Even as far as NZ is away from Europe, I have been 4 times. It's a real gem and you get both the alps experience with some beautiful lakes (Bled and Bohinj etc), and coastal Adriatic experience down in Piran etc. Ljubljana is a cool little capital as well. Definitely one of my most fav countries.
The interior; appearance of seats and their arrangement, over head luggage cabins gives a look like a commercial aircraft interior
I like Slowvenia.
Me too! 😅
Slovenia has some good lines with good scenery though it seems👀
Nice country, but the food is horrible.
@@Zwei-Rosenwhat the hell did you eat??
slovenia is SHIT!
Thanks for video. The same trains there are in Portugal too, named Alfa Pendular
Thank you. Compared to this the new Flirt has electric plugs everywhere, but no tables and no adjustable seats. Compared to Austrian cityjet (Desiro ML) it's inferior seating comfort, but used as MV (international express train) Ljubljana to Graz and Villach nowadays.
I'll travel to Slovenia in August and probably going to use ICS at least on one way, I'll travel 1st class (looks very nice) and take a powerbank.
"Pendolino Bar" is a small family business also operating some station buffets and the restaurant car of the EC "Emona" (Wien - Ljubljana).
Make sure you have some cash. I ran out of time at Maribor to load up and then found restaurant car on Emona was strictly cash only 😭*(Big fail for my taking Emona especially as I took it over taking the pendolino when I went to Ljubljana just because of its dining car doh!) Talking associated business, at Maribor Stn, and more so at Ljubljana Stn and the Railway Museum there, there are SZ railfan goods available to purchase including a SZ Flirt EMU tote bag 😀 I got myself a few things.
*I think Europeans are more used to still carry cash, NZers hardly have any cash in their wallets or purses these days.
@@simonc5624 that depends on the country, in Sweden and Norway you can pay almost everything by card
i had wery bed day you make me happier
Yay! 😊
@@SuperalbsTravels you shud try czech pendolino
@@kralkoritnacekbob Hopefully one day :)
From Pragersko to Ptuj and Budampest Deli. Very nice video presenting my daily rotine
Impressive video Albie ❤. Slowyenia is a country to be visited
Thank you! :)
Slovenia, not Slowyenia.
Looks really neat, but I do hope the line gets some more speed upgrades one way or another given its importance in connecting Slovenias major cities. Even just smaller ones, and perhaps getting some newer tilting trains.
I love how "Slovenske železnice" can literally be translated as "Slovak railways" 😂
Thankfully, our operator is Slovakia has a different name, so, no confusion there.
It's always funny that these two countries have to exchange misplaced mail regularly.
Yes! I love that fact. 😂
I love how confusing our languages can be. Thank god "pivo" means the same thing in both languages :)
@@matija7727 That's the most important word!
It does not help that both names mean the same thing. The flags are similar and be confusing to those who aren't familiar as well
Well to many illiterate and ignorant people on the planet!
Lupus Howling i love this song lol great choice for the Intro
When I went on a interrail trip last summer with one of my friends we were really surprised cause of the super modern Pragersko station in such a small town. We had to wait there for another train. Only downside is that there are no electrical boards. So we could only look on some paper boards and hope for the best 😂
If you again visit Slovenia you should go on tourist wine train wich drives beetwen Gorica and Ajdovscina on Vipava wine valley. It is unique expirience because on train you will have a wine degustation and have some stops at villages in vine cellars and cantines around train track. If you like a local food specialitetes and local wines than you can make reservation in advance. Second turistic attracition is ride with steam locomotive and wagons from 19 century from Bled to Kanal ob Soci on Bohinj Alpine route wich was build by AH army for war purpuses beetwen 1 ww because there was Soca front nearby.
Thx for the info on the wine train. Didn't know about it. And that is one of my most favorite wine regions in Europe.
Bohinj railvay was finished 1906, not during the Ww1
Beautiful country, hope to visit someday
This days more common are Stadler trains and on local routes siemes trains delays are preatty common due to a lot of infastructure work on, but despite that you can make transfer most of time.
I technically did. We have these in Portugal, they're Pendolinos from FIAT and they're not at all “crazy”. Hopefully we can buy and repurpose some of these one day, as we've lost a few EMUs to accidents in level crossings and with track maintenance machines already.
The seat pattern is actualy well designed to hide dust, so they always look clean...
High-speed? That's a good one 🤣🤣🤣
What's crazy about it though?
Nothing.
Thanks for your great video's. I cannot travel anymore so watching you & your Internet friends (love the way you join up) is just awesome. I wonder how my Dalmatian puppy would do on that train? He'd make a lot of people laugh that's for sure. Enjoy & stay safe
Awwww that sounds cute! Thanks for watching great to see you here. :)
An onboard beer for €3.20 would be considered cheap in Australia, let alone that you'd hardly get a beer on a train here. Can't even buy one for that much in a pub.
I’ve done that route in the summer sun, it was excellent
Lucky for some! 👀
My journey in was on fresh-air stock too, but the weather was still grim.
@@SuperalbsTravels mind you it was from Zagreb
Even there is no construction work, our trains are ALWAYS late 😮
There was an extreme problem with rollerblading enthusiasts in the mid 2000s. They would roar up and down the aisles whilst flinging ice cream (and not just vanilla) at unsuspecting travellers. Most uncouth. Clearly this was not an issue on these trains, as they are newer, but once bitten, twice shy, or so say the corporate bigwigs, and so the signage continues to denounce this erstwhile behavioural plague. Now it seems to be en vogue to make awesome rail travel videos instead. This is very right on! :)
There are plans to reinstate a Slovenia-Italy train from Lubiana to Venice and Milan, via Sezana (the Slovenian (former) border station); currently italian trains stop at Villa Opicina (the (former) italian border station)
The view reminds me of when I took the Railjet in Austria to go from Graz to Salzburg, it's also pretty close to a river and I think that's one of the best views I've had on a train
I'm from Slovenia, but I never took a ride with ICS. When I was going to high school we were riding with "gomolka" (I saw it in your video).
Zidani most means more in a line of brick/stone bridge or not wooden
verb zidati means to construct,zidar means bricklayer
stone bridge is kamniti most
Thanks! 👍
Austria has an ancient steam locomotive "Steinbrück" named for this town.
The first class looks a lot like the first class on the ICE high speed trains.
If I would ride that train? Totally! 👍Especially since I live in Villach (close to the border to Slovenia). I could make a round trip. Villach-Ljubljana- Maribor-Graz-Villach. Or the other way around. 😎
That would be a cool trip! :)
@@SuperalbsTravels Think so, too. I'll keep it in mind for my next vacation in September. When it's not so hot anymore. 😊
I like the seat colour. Reminds me of a late 1970's Fiat!!!
Here is a recent Cab Ride of this journey (during this winter) with all the clicking sounds of the cabin. You can also see pretty unique speed limit signage on Slovenian railways (three numbers on yellow boards) - top number is for ICS tilting train, middle number is for light EMU/DMU trains and bottom one for locomotive hauled passenger and cargo trains.
th-cam.com/video/GmiEjbSjpYY/w-d-xo.html
I was just looking for a video from my country and I instantly found it hehe
Maribor or Marburg is well worth a visit. Sitting in acafe on the river .is a lovely experience.coffee is a different flavour to what you tasted in Austria or Croatia.Slovenia have their owmnsigniture bean roast.its nice but different!?😊
I must visit more cities in this area, thanks for the recommendation!
@@SuperalbsTravels Yip, Maribor, the lakes Bled, and Bohinj, and Piran on the Adriatic coast (train to Koper and bus to Piran) are all fantastic. Pula down at the end of the Istrian Line in Croatia which can be reached by rail from Ljubljana and traditionally has had a direct Summer seasonal EC service is also well worth doing. You need to be spending more time on the rails in Slovenia!
beautioful landscape, just like in Austria & Switzerland
1:08 what is happening with the camera?
For some reason, I wasn't holding the camera still, so I've tried to correct it. It's better than it was before! 😂
I thought I was dizzy and I held tight onto my chair.... Lmao
@@SuperalbsTravels Made for quite the trippy effect!
High-speed is a bit an overstatement 😂 nevertheless, really nice review… 👍😎
1:55 snacks and drinks haha
The 310 trains wont be around for to long tho as getting spare parts for it has become a problem and its the reason we only have 2 in operation as the third one is used for spare parts. They were originally bought for Ljubljana - Venice back in 2000 and were basically never intended to be profitable and only used as a show train , that why we only bought 3 sets lol
That's not true at all. All 3 Pendolinos are in use.
ETR 460 parts are still made, that shouldn't be an issue.
would you be able to ride the stourbridge town branch line? it has some pretty unique locomotives and the entire line could easily fit in one video :)
Haha it's too short! 🤣
Love from sloveina🇸🇮
Thank you 🥰
I listened in the background so maybe i missed it, did he mention Borovnica Viaduct? Probably the only impressive thing worth mentioning😀
“The viaduct was completed in 1856 and spanned the Borovnica Valley along the route from Vienna to Trieste vie Ljubljana. During its construction and for some decades afterward it was the largest stone bridge in Europe. It was 561 meters (1,841 ft) long and 38 meters (125 ft) high. The structure was planned by Carl Ritter von Ghega and construction began in 1850, lasting until August 1856, when the first train crossed it. It was a two-story structure; the first story consisted of 22 arches, and the second story had 25 arches. It was supported by 24 columns built of dressed stone that stood on wooden pilings driven into the loamy marsh soil. The arches were built of brick. The construction required one million cubic feet of broken stone, five million bricks, and one million cubic feet of stone blocks.”
Wiki
Cool! One to look out for next time. :)
Unfortunately there is nothing much to see, one single column left, it was dismantled (or whatever is the right word) after ww2. Germans build another route during ww2 bcs they anticipated it will be bombed and since it was in bad condition already before ww2 (i believe atleast some trains very limited to 5km/h bcs condition was so bad) they just used the new German line, atleast i believe that is what happened..
Slovenia has some really scenic railways, particularly the Bohinj railway, running from Jesenice to Sežana. It’s a slow diesel line, but historically extremely important and the views are just incredible.
I also love the part between Divača and Koper, which is the cause for major headaches in Slovenian rail network (and trust me there are many). It’s best experienced on a late summer afternoon. The sunset beautifully lights the rock formations and there is an amazing view of the coastline. We are actually building another alignment for this part of the network, because the line is very overcrowded, so you have to hurry a bit before it closes.
Wait, is the current Divača - Koper line scheduled for closure after the opening of the new one?
@@gab_v250 Yeah it is the most likely and the most popular option. There’s many safety issues with the current alignment, a very steep grade aside, the line was actually responsible for causing a couple of smaller forest fires in the area. That being said it will only happen when the second track on the new alignment is ready, which will be later, given that it was initially a one track alignment. They might keep a part of the line to run the services to Pula
@@justsamoo3480 oh, I see. I thought Croatia could've built a line from Rijeka to Pula, to avoid being isolated...
Yes the Bohinj railway, and the lake itself are wonderful. It's also got the funniest border crossing I have ever done - Walking across the Nova Gorica Stn carpark to the bus stop at the other side of the carpark, which in doing so crosses from Slovenia into Italy!
Yes I went from Ljubljana to Pula in October last year. So many works. my long day journey was train, then rail replacement bus, then another bit by train to Divača then rail replacement minivan to Croatian border station then finally local Croatian train to Pula! Not quite the journey I had originally hoped for! That line in Istria is pretty nice too with some wonderful little stations and great views over the valleys etc from them high up on the ridge.
The snacks and drinks shop actually sells weed too😅
There are 2 types of old things ......old and ugly , old and classy ......this one was definitely classy. What a timeless design ❤
Tilting trains date from the 1950s, and they counter the problem of centrifugal force when the train is going fast on turns in traditional tracks with no incline. Probably the most famous example is Amtrak's Acela, developed by Bombarier in 2000. It runs fast on traditional and older track, hence the tilting.
The Pendolino is easily the most famous example for tilting trains. The Acela doesn‘t even have tilt on all cars, only on the unpowered passenger cars.
Great trip. Yeah definitely underrated train.
You are really good at pronouncing names. 👍
Another fantastic video
Hey,
You just neet to know that tracks are outdated , and like you see they just start to work on it since Austroogerska time, now they are making +1 track all across slovenia and all platforms so when local trains stops every station that ics and other trains can pass in the middle so that tou wont have unknow reason that you are late... They drop sppeed so you dont neet to wait in middle of truck till station is cleard (hope you iunderatad what i mean).
They have calculated how slow they need to go to reach empty station, so you dont have filling on stopping xD
Great vidéo!
Will you check the Intercity Corelia Liners in 1st class on the Bordeaux - Nantes line some day?
It's very peculiar but the first class is really good !
Beautiful landscape and nice shots. We have same trains in Greece, but tilting isn't in use.
8:15 all slovenians every day lmao
😂😭
A similar distance (by ~3 miles) would be London Euston - Birmingham New Street.
Surprisingly, tickets just a day in advance can be had for £9 - £13 or so, which is incredible.
However, some on the day and peak trains are £66 - £100.
NO WAY, a video about slovenia's public transport? how is this possible-
Maribor: Where were you? Train: there was construction in our face.
I live in Slovenia. Thanks for visiting😊Come again
10:00 you will see those signs everywhere. stores... trains... ice cream drips and roller skates leaves marks on floor. thats my guess
I am from Slovenia 🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮
The interrior feels like sittin in an airplane apart from the big windows
Those chairs remind me of ice chairs, those blue plastics tend to give it away, not a bad thing tho as it means there are plenty of parts to repair them and tend to be very comfortable
Wow! Fascinating and enjoyable vid. No bar on a Sunday? ... Huh? Paul in Oz.
Running 15 minutes late sounds about right for non-tilting speed on that line. You can very distinctly feel active tilting on the Pendolino. Why is the other question. Maybe the trackside equipment for higher speeds was out of order due to the construction works, or the Pendolino simply zonked out it's tilting again....
Also: Wow, blast from the past indeed. Those are the original seats used on the ICE3...
Lovely country, Slovenia - an old friend of mine worked there for a couple of years back in the early 2000s, and insisted it was the most beautiful country in Europe (I prefer Switzerland myself). Looked like a fun ride - but you're a bit harsh on the seat fabric IMO - I thought it was cool, something different rather than a bland single colour velour or leather.
Slovenia is like Switzerland, just more affordable.
@@iuciubbb It certainly looks it from the video. I must make a visit sometimes soon.
Actually the line between Ljubljana and Maribor has seen a number of upgrades in the last 20 years, with the investment cost probably (I don't know the exact number) approaching a billion EUR. However, the aim of these upgrades was mainly to: i) allow 22.5t axle load for freight trains and locomotives, ii) remove level crossings to make road traffic safer and faster, iii) interoperable signalling, iv) stations with wheelchair accessible platforms. Speed of passenger services was not really a factor.
There would certainly be many possibitlities to straighten the bends with little effort (like some new short tunnels), but that would require modifications of the spatial plan and nobody wanted to take on that burden. As a consequence, the scheduled journey time, after all the upgrades, is 5 minutes longer than when the Pendolino was first introduced.
Please can you ride on Uzbekistan’s high speed train, the Afrosiyob Talgo.
He’s done a video on that already
No that was in Spain.
He’s also ridden the afrosiyob
Wait no he hasn’t sry
I have filmed it, hopefully will edit it sometime. :)
"Would you ride Slovenia’s CRAZY tilting high-speed train?" nah, il just ride my czech pendolino
We have a new double decker. You should review that one.
that Highspeed train is identical to the Alfa Pendular High Speed Train in Portugal! same design but in Portugal we have 10 units with 6 carrages now 9 cuz 1 got w/o in collision with rail works