European Railroad Discussion > Back to Slovenia

Another visit to the Koper Line, with a side visit to the cross border line between Slovenia and Croatia for the summer-only Adriatic/Retro Istria Express. I was a bit worried that traffic levels would be depressed during August, owing to the holiday season, but I needn't have worried. There were plenty of trains.

1: This is the EN 1277, the Rijeka portion of the combined Adriatic & Retro Istria Expresses, arriving at the last stop in Slovenia, Ilirska Bistrica. The front three cars, a couchette and two day coaches are from Warsaw (the Adriatic Express), the rear three cars from Budapest (the Retro Istria). The loco is SŽ 342 024, one of a class of 40 3kV DC locomotives built by Ansaldo for Yugoslavia between 1968 and 1970. Slovenian railfans nickname them mopeds.
2: For reasons best known to the SŽ the EN 1277 sits at Ilirska Bistrica for 30 minutes, which allowed me time to get ahead, over the border into Croatia, to shoot the power change at Šapjane. Although the train only has 26km to go to reach Rijeka, a powerschange is necessary as the overhead power transitions from 3kV DC to 25kV AC on crossing the border. Modern multi voltage locos and MUs do away with need for the power change but SŽ's venerable 342s are 3kV DC only. The HŽPP 25kV loco is about to remove 342 024
3: HŽPP 1141 377 is ready to leave having fly shunted 242 024 up to the 3kV DC end of the yard where it has raised its pantograph ready to return to Ilirska Bistrica.

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4: After that little diversion I returned to the mainline through the hills that moves freight down to the port of Koper on the Adriatic, a few miles south of Trieste. At Košana an SŽ class 363 (Alstom 1976) on iron ore empties returning to Koper from the Voest Alpine steelworks, Linz in Austria (train no.45411).
5: Freight electric motive power consists of the 363s, Siemens Eurosprinters (SŽ class 541, OBB class 1216, Adria Transport class 1216) and a wide variety of Vectrons (Euro Loco Leasing, LTE, Railpool, Metrans, SETG, OBB, InRail, Adria Transport, PKP International) with the 342s on the remaining loco hauled passenger trains. At Podpeč, on the single track Koper ramp, the 1966 line down the limestone karst to the coast at Koper, an LTE Vectron on train no.41442 Koper tovorna - Wundschuh (Cargo Center Graz). This is a joint LTE / Adria Transport working run on behalf of Tailwind, the logistics arm of the German supermarket chain Lidl.
6: Taken at the other end of the village near the 14th century St Helens church, a descending train, no.42031 from Budapest Soroksári út rendező



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/26 07:50 by 86235.

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I caught the Koper portion of the Retro Istria express (MV 146 and MV 147) numerous times. This summer-only service makes its last run tomorrow 30th August. Hopefully it'll run next year too. Here are three shots:

7: Zanigrad (the Koper bound MV 146),
8: Prešnica (the Warsaw & Budapest bound MV 147) and
9: MV 146 again at Podpeč on Friday.

Every day I was there the loco was moped 022. It's a holiday train so there are often people hanging out of the windows and waving. Consist is a day coach to and from Warsaw, a day coach, couchette and sleeping car too and from Budapest. 
 

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Three more featuring 363s in a variety of liveries

10: 363s 001 and 021 have been repainted into the current SŽ blue and white livery, here 001 is descending towards Dol Tunnel on a train I was reliably informed was no.49405 Dobrá u Frýdku-Místku kolej 90 (Hyundai Nošovice) to Koper. Dobrá u Frýdku-Místku is in Czechia near Ostrava, and next to Hyundai's auto assembly plant at Novosovice. That's what I was told, by a pretty unimpeachable source, so it's safe to assume the cars were Hyundai's for export. Only they weren't, the train was loaded with Skodas. So not sure what was going on, possibly a data input error.
11:  Emerging from Dol Tunnel is 363 038 on iron ore empties no.48403 Voest Alpine Linz - Koper tovorna
12: My final picture on Friday, before I had to return the car to Trieste Airport and catch my flight home. I couldn't quite believe my luck retro-liveried 363 005 on a long train of vans (box cars) emerging from the other end of Dol Tunnel.

Just three more shots, thisa toime the variety of other locos seen on the Koper ramp.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/26 14:22 by 86235.

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13: Railpool Vectron 6193 094 between Prešnica and Črnotiče on a train of vans bound for Koper. 
14: InRail Vectron X4E 673 approaching Košana on tanks from Cervignano del Friuli (in Italy) to Fényeslitke-Déli rendező (in Hungary, close to the Ukrainian border).
15: Leaving the 66m Rizana Tunnel (no.4) SETG Vectron 193 285 on nos.41483 / 47699 Enns - Koper. Enns is in Upper Austria near Linz.

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Awesome shots and variety, but just move there already.

Nick - great series, as usual.  Love those 363s.    That's quite a vantage point in #7 - was that a major hike up to that location? 

dwatry Wrote:
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> Nick - great series, as usual.  Love those
> 363s.    That's quite a vantage point in #7 -
> was that a major hike up to that location? 


Thanks Duncan. No it's a 5 minute hike up hill on a stony path, assuming one drives to Zanigrad. The low key sign at the start of the track up to Zanigrad which says that only property owners can drive up there is still there, but no one seemed to mind.

Great scenery and an an interesting variety of equipment.   Thanks for your post.

Greg Stadter
Phoenix, AZ

Great report and photos, Nick. Good to see so much passenger loco haulage.  Chris uk.