Would you ride Slovenia’s CRAZY tilting high-speed train?

Time to try out Slovenia's flagship train, the InterCity Slovenija. Running from Ljubljana to Maribor, this Pendolino unit connects Slovenia's two major cities, and despite being a nice experience, it is rather strange. 😁

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Journey Details:
Origin: Ljubljana
Destination: Maribor
Company: Slovenske Železnice (SŽ)
Train: SŽ 310 (Pendolino)
Accommodation: Second Class Seat (2nd)
Distance: 155 kilometres / 97 miles
Price: €15.40 (£13.80 / $16.70)
Time: 1 hour 50 minutes, arrived 23 minutes late

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Find me elsewhere:

[bokev]

I love how this guy makes Slovenske Železnice actually look competent.

Also the pronunciation is on point, bravo👏

[ljecl]

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.

[whatever]

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.

[TheMikeOrganist]

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. ;)

[TheWarrior]

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

[CasualGearheads]

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.

[glavasmarko]

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.

[anestrawberrychild]

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!

[markony]

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

[robertvonschumann]

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 🙂

[MartinBrez]

I've taken the train from Zagreb to Ljubljana and back as a day trip. The scenary along the Sava is beautiful.

[Razer_-femo]

As a massive Pendolino fan, this was awesome to watch! Loving the early 2000s style!

[pafawagbbb]

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!

[bambuco]

You should try ridding the normal commuter train in Ljubljana, that's the experience you'll never forget.

[silvestervrhovnik]

Thank you for the video. Is the best. 🙏🇸🇮💪🇸🇮

[namenamename]

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.

[miha.osebni]

Thank you, that you mentiond my city Trbovlje <3. I travel everyday from Trbovlje to Ljubljana for about 4 years and it's getting quite boring and everyday train is late for 10 - 30minutes. But I'm happy that we have good conection.

[flowvisualmedia]

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!

[igorsiuda]

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).

[yahoryermakou]

Thanks for video. The same trains there are in Portugal too, named Alfa Pendular