Slovenian Railways

...short the problem is this, Slovenian trains are timetabled to be of benefit to people who want to leave early and spend all day wherever they are going; it is not easy to go for a day trip on a train in Slovenia unless you want to get up very early and stay until late in the day. Often when we go somewhere by train in Slovenia I am ready to come home by three because I am worn out.

Another flaw is the apparent inability of Slovenske ...
...would have thought that the Slovenian Tourist Board and Slovenske zeleznice should be getting together and doing something useful in this situation. Do they want tourists to spend their money in Austria or Slovenia? The sooner they get you into Slovenia the sooner they can have your money.

It is even more perplexing that they can't organise this when you know that Slovenske zeleznice have all kinds of initiatives to get you to the ... more

I read that last bank holiday it would take18 hours and involve an overnight stay in Milton Keynes to travel by train between Kettering and London. Well, this is the information you are presented with if you make an on-line enquiry, and Network Rail apologise and say it's down to several lots of engineering works. It's hardly surprising that we complain a lot about the state of the railways in this country; I do think they are over-priced and unreliable. But is railway travel really that much worse than in continental Europe?

One company I use quite a bit is "Slovenske zeleznice" (Slovenian Railways). The country is relatively well covered by the rail network and well connected by international services to the rest of Europe and using the trains is never less than a pleasure; the trains are very new and always clean and tidy. I've never been one to doze in trains but the minute my mother steps on one of Slovenske zeleznice's trains she nods off which surely must be a good advert for the level of comfort. If you find yourself on an older style train, the ones with compartments, then these will not belong to Slovenske zeleznice but are international trains passing through. Slovenske zeleznice does not operate any international services of its own. Any international service stopping at stations in Slovenia are run by neighbouring countries.

Approximately two million people live in Slovenia and they have a greater number of cars per head of the population than the UK; nevertheless public transport is well-used and rural areas are surprisingly well catered for. Unlike in the UK, there is little difference in duration between a journey made by train or bus even though the latter has more stops; the price is also similar. The only difference is the level of comfort and for that reason I will usually choose the train over the bus unless the departure time matters.

One thing you may find odd about Slovenske zeleznice is the timetabling; while it makes sense to have lots of trains at times that are useful to commuters, leisure travelers and tourists are not really considered at all and as a result you do need to plan journeys in advance (this applies to buses too although they may be more frequent). For example, last year my parents came to stay with us at our place in Maribor which is just a thirty minute drive from the very picturesque and much-visited town of Ptuj. We arrived at the train station around 9.45 on Saturday morning in the hope of catching a train to Ptuj and were informed that the next one was not until mid-afternoon. We scoured the timetable for an alternative destination but the only train was going to the capital, where we were already going the next day, and the town of Celje. In short the problem is this, Slovenian trains are timetabled to be of benefit to people who want to leave early and spend all day wherever they are going; it is not easy to go for a day trip on a train in Slovenia unless you want to get up very early and stay until late in the day. Often when we go somewhere by train in Slovenia I am ready to come home by three because I am worn out.

Another flaw is the apparent inability of Slovenske zeleznice to see the bigger picture. When we go to Slovenia we usually fly in to Graz in Austria and take the train to Maribor. On the first occasions we had to take a train from the airport at Graz to Spielfeld Strass on the border where we would wait twenty minutes for a train to Maribor. Now the train times have changed and we now have to wait two hours at the border for a train. Spielfeld Strass is a one horse village where the only place to drink is a hotel that isn't very cheap. Next time we'll get off earlier at Leibnitz where there is more choice of places to go and we'll pick up our connection there instead. I would have thought that the Slovenian Tourist Board and Slovenske zeleznice should be getting together and doing something useful in this situation. Do they want tourists to spend their money in Austria or Slovenia? The sooner they get you into Slovenia the sooner they can have your money.

It is even more perplexing that they can't organise this when you know that Slovenske zeleznice have all kinds of initiatives to get you to the countries best spots once you are already there. For example, if you are going to the showcaves at Skocjan, you take the train to Divaca and the ticket includes a free shuttle bus from Divaca station to the caves and back. There's also a "Spa Train" which is not, as it sounds, a dedicated train but rather a combined travel and spa entry price to spend a day at the Lasko Thermal Spa Resort which is close to Lasko train station. As well as giving you a twenty per cent discount on entry to the spa it also entitles you to 10 per cent savings on treatments and the cost of travel itself is 30 per cent cheaper (and a whopping 50 per cent for children). They also offer lots of different group tours, usually for groups of more than twenty which combine travel and the services of a guide, not so good if you are travelling independently but worth thinking about for group travel.

One thing I love about Slovenia is the passion for cycling; the "kolesarna" (bike room) in the basement of our building is crammed with bikes of all sizes, some sleek racers, sturdy city bikes and one ancient boneshaker our caretaker rides). Bicycles can be carried on all train services and this service costs just 2 Euro 80 no matter the distance. You don't have to book in advance which is great for us as we often just get an idea in the morning and want to set off immediately. (Groups of ten or more do have to book up to eight days in advance).

Dogs too can be taken on the trains and the fare is half the second class fare for the journey.

Disabled passengers will have no problems travelling on Intercity trains or the low entry electric trains that service several routes. The only trains that have major access issues are the older international trains going to Hungary which have several big steps as you get on.

So far I have not bought food on a Slovenske zeleznice train and I'm not at all sure what the facilities if any are like. This is just because there are always bakery kiosks near train stations and so it's easy to grab a snack before boarding the train. But this does lead me nicely to something very special about Slovenian train stations. Just about every train station in Slovenia has a bar - and we're not talking the dreadful chains we have in the UK. No railway station café bar is the same and some are so good people go there for a night out. My favourite is the one at Pragersko which is a busy rail junction close to Maribor in north east Slovenia, where the interior is done out like a rustic alpine chalet. You never know what you're going to get in these places but that's the interesting part. At chains there are no surprises which can be quite dull.

You may have heard that National Express trains in the UK are going to introduce a compulsory charge for seat reservations; well, seat reservations are only necessary on one route in Slovenia and they are free of charge. Prices are calculated by distance which I won't elaborate on here but prices are quite reasonable. For example, the price for one adult travelling one way between the capital Ljubljana and Koper on the coast is 9 Euro 49 and the journey takes two hours and twenty minutes. This is an anytime price and generally there aren't all kinds of complicated price structures depending on advance booking and other factors that make people so frustrated with UK pricing policies. There are various rail passes available, including ones for students, that offer a specified number of days travel for a set price and details of these can be found at http://www.interrailnet.com/interrail-one-country- pass-slovenia?currency=eur

So while Slovenian trains are clean, comfortable, punctual and good value for money there are some issues regarding timetabling that mean suing the train is not always a viable option. With a little thought the services offered could be improved although I am sure that while there are always bus services that fill the gaps there won't be much action in the future to change the timetabling structure.

I always find travelling by train in Slovenia a pleasant experience and I do think that some of the country's most beautiful scenery has something to do with this. What you see through the window of a train travelling through central Slovenia is better than anything you'd see on a television screen!

 

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