Ljubljana to Budapest

[fowler9]

Hi folks, how are you all doing? Been a while since I've been on due to some major medical issues and changes in my life but here I am. Ha ha. I hope this finds everyone well.

I am travelling by train from Ljubljana to Brasov in November and just wondered if anyone has recent experience of the area. I have seen concerns about service reliability in Slovenia on other parts of the internet with severe delays. My plan is to get the 5am service from Ljubljana which I believe goes through Graz in order to give myself maximum breathing room in Budapest to catch one of the two sleepers from Budapest Keleti to Brasov. I know there are no guarantees but I'm just hoping to avoid severe multi hour delays and was wondering what the chances are. Apologies, that is very much a how long is a piece of string question. Any input advice or anecdotes from train travel in the area much appreciated.

 

[Wandering Pom]

I travelled on that train (IC 311) from Graz to Szombathely in Hungary a couple of months ago. It was spot on time on that section at least, so I assume it had run to time on Slovenia too.

 

[fowler9]

I travelled on that train (IC 311) from Graz to Szombathely in Hungary a couple of months ago. It was spot on time on that section at least, so I assume it had run to time on Slovenia too.

Ah fantastic, that's a good start. Many thanks for your help.

 

[Class172]

I travelled between Ljubljana and Budapest towards the start of the year, but using the slightly later morning departure that runs via Hodoš; in my case I was booked on the evening sleeper train from Budapest-Nyugati to Berlin. Whilst we left Ljubljana on time, after only a few minutes we were held for over half an hour at one of the stations on the city side of the city. It transpired there were engineering works on the next section of the line towards Zidani Most, with a few separate sections of single-line working in operation—the engineering works were quite substantial with the other track being completely lifted at a number of locations. This wasn't the only non-standard part of the journey however, as instead of running as a single through train with locomotive+coaches (which I believe is the norm), the service between Ljubljana and Hodoš was operated with an SŽ Desiro EMU. As we neared the Hungarian border we were informed that a change at Hodoš would be necessary and another train would be waiting for us to continue the journey. I arrived at Hodoš and walked down the platform to the awaiting MAV-Start train (loco+coaches), which gained more coaches as we continued via Zalaegerszeg towards Budapest. I think in the end we arrived about 15 minutes late into Budapest-Déli, which still left me with plenty of time to get across the city with luggage.

 

[fowler9]

I travelled between Ljubljana and Budapest towards the start of the year, but using the slightly later morning departure that runs via Hodoš; in my case I was booked on the evening sleeper train from Budapest-Nyugati to Berlin. Whilst we left Ljubljana on time, after only a few minutes we were held for over half an hour at one of the stations on the city side of the city. It transpired there were engineering works on the next section of the line towards Zidani Most, with a few separate sections of single-line working in operation—the engineering works were quite substantial with the other track being completely lifted at a number of locations. This wasn't the only non-standard part of the journey however, as instead of running as a single through train with locomotive+coaches (which I believe is the norm), the service between Ljubljana and Hodoš was operated with an SŽ Desiro EMU. As we neared the Hungarian border we were informed that a change at Hodoš would be necessary and another train would be waiting for us to continue the journey. I arrived at Hodoš and walked down the platform to the awaiting MAV-Start train (loco+coaches), which gained more coaches as we continued via Zalaegerszeg towards Budapest. I think in the end we arrived about 15 minutes late into Budapest-Déli, which still left me with plenty of time to get across the city with luggage.

Ah great stuff, many thanks for the info. Very much appreciated.

 

[dutchflyer]

MOst-nearly all reports of late running-serious late running in SI seems to apply to trains coming from HR=Hrvatska=Croatia and going toward AT=Austria. Biut this might very well be due to what class 172 describes as works on that line on the Slovene side south of Ljubljana.
Myself on an IR-pass and plan to ride Ljubljana-into Graz next week.

 

[fowler9]

MOst-nearly all reports of late running-serious late running in SI seems to apply to trains coming from HR=Hrvatska=Croatia and going toward AT=Austria. Biut this might very well be due to what class 172 describes as works on that line on the Slovene side south of Ljubljana.
Myself on an IR-pass and plan to ride Ljubljana-into Graz next week.

Ah brilliant, many thanks for the info.