Trip to Slovenia, Croatia, Italy and Spain - April/May 2016
General Notes
A multi-purpose holiday with a 3-day railtour in Slovenia and Croatia, followed by a visit to my sister in Spain - and some Spanish track for good measure. Firstly the PTG tour from Ljubljana to Pula, Bohinsjska Bistrica and Jesenice. Planning the route from Jesenice (Slovenia) to Huelva (Spain) took some working out: going overland by rail is feasible but takes too long; I found a flight from Bergamo to Sevilla which cut the time down significantly. After spending a few days with my sister at her place in southern Spain, I then spent three days in the Mérida area travelling over lines with a very poor service. I headed home from Sevilla via Stansted and a ride behind 87002 on a King's Cross to York charter.
Operating Company Abbreviations:
- FS - Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (Italian State Railways)
- RENFE - Red Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Españoles (principal train operator in Spain)
- SŽ - Slovenske Železnice (Slovenian Railways)
Track gauge
Spain: broad gauge, 1668 mm; all other countries: standard gauge, 1435 mm.
| Place | Arrive | Depart | Train | Traction details & notes |
Thursday 28th April 2016
| Timperley | 18:49 | Metrolink tram 3055+3054 | ||
| Manchester Piccadilly | 19:16 | 19:55 | Virgin Trains EMU 390 117 | |
| London Euston | 22:13 | arr 8 late | ||
| New track today: none. | ||||
| Overnight:London Central Kings Cross Travelodge. | ||||
| Notes . |
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Friday 29th April 2016
| King's Cross St Pancras | 09:29 | London Underground Hammersmith & City Line | ||
| Liverpool Street | 09:39 | 09:55 | Greater Anglia EMU 379 001 | |
| Stansted Airport | 10:44 | 12:15 | peoplemover 3 | |
| Stansted Airport (STD) | 12:18 | 12:55 | Easyjet G-EZFA A319-111 | |
| Ljubljana | 16:00 | 16:15 | bus | |
| Ljubljana City Hotel | 16:55 | |||
| New track today: none. | ||||
| Overnight: PTG City Hotel, Ljublana. Today's photos. | ||||
| Notes . |
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Saturday 30th April 2016
| Ljubljana | 08:00 | 17022 | SŽ DL 664-116 PTG railtour all day | |
| Šapjane | 09:52 | 10:05 | 15551 | SŽ DL 664-116 |
| via Rijeka - Škrljevo (11:03/11:20, loco run round) | ||||
| Bakar | 11:38 | 12:05 | 15550 | SŽ DL 664-116 propel to end of line - loco run round |
| via Škrljevo (12:23/12:38, loco run round) | ||||
| Rijeka Brajdice | 12:51 | 13:15 | 15553 | SŽ DL 664-116 loco run round |
| via Škrljevo (13:29/13:47, loco run round) | ||||
| Šapjane | 15:06 | 15:18 | 15552 | SŽ DL 664-116 loco run round |
| Prestranek | 15:39 | 16:00 | 17028 | SŽ DL 664-116 loco run round |
| Buzet | 17:30 | 17:40 | 15580 | SŽ DL 664-116 |
| Pula | 19:30 | bus to hotel | ||
| New non-passenger track today: Škrljevo - Bakar; Sušak-Peċine - Rijeka Brajdice. | ||||
| Overnight: PTG Hotel Plaza Arena, Pula. Today's photos. | ||||
| Notes Day 1 of the 2016 PTG trip to Slovenia, Croatia and Italy. This covered two freight-only lines: the steeply-graded branch from Škrljevo to the port at Bakar, and the line from Sušak-Peċine to the container terminal at Rijeka Brajdice, this being accessed by a 360 degree loop in tunnel. Unfortunately we were not able to cover the street-running section between Rijeka Brajdice and Rijeka station. |
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Sunday 1st May 2016
| Hotel Plaza Arena | taxis (bus did not turn up) | |||
| Pula | 08:00 | ? | SŽ DL 664-116 dep 12 late | |
| Buzet | 09:37 | 09:50 | 17026 | SŽ DL 664-116 |
| Hrpelje-Kozina | 10:29 | 10:44 | 17014 | SŽ DL 664-116 loco run round |
| Koper Tovarna | 11:17 | 12:20 | 17027 | * drag back to junction by SŽ DL 643-009 |
| Koper | 12:34 | 13:40 | 17021 | loco run round |
| Sežana | 14:43 | 14:49 | * SŽ DL 644-005 added as tail loco | |
| Villa Opicina (Italy) | 14:58 | 15:15 | 17023 | reverse |
| Sežana | 15:25 | 15:30 | * SŽ DL 644-005 (only) reverse | |
| Prvačina | 15:59 | 16:14 | loco run round | |
| Ajdovščina | 16:30 | 16:45 | 17024 | loco run round |
| Most na Soči | 17:55 | 18:31 | AVT860 | * SŽ 644-020 + Railtour + Avtovlak |
| Bohinjska Bistrica | 19:09 | * SŽ 644-020 shunt from Avtovlak terminal | ||
| New track today: none. | ||||
| Overnight: PTG Hotel Bohinj Park Eco, Bohinjska Bistrica. Today's photos. | ||||
| Notes Day 2 of the 2016 PTG trip to Slovenia, Croatia and Italy. At Koper we went into the docks area (Tovarna) first, though I have been here before; then we were dragged back to the junction by a class 634 before heading into Koper main station for a break. At Most na Soči we viewed the loading of the car carrier train "Avtovlak" (Motorail) that takes cars through the 6.4 km-long Bohinj tunnel, passing through the Julian Alps range. The charter was then shunted onto the car carrier train and now with top-and-tail locos we carried on through the tunnel to the overnight stop at Bohinjska Bistrica. The Solkan Bridge on this route is the longest span stone-built railway bridge in the world. |
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Monday 2nd May 2016
| Bohinjska Bistrica | 09:08 | AVT853 | SŽ DL 644-020 + Avtovlak + Railtour +SŽ DL 644-012 | |
| Most na Soči | 09:49 | 10:35 | AVT854 | SŽ DL 644-020 + 644-012 + Railtour + Avtovlak |
| Bohinjska Bistrica | 11:15 | 11:52 | 17025 | SŽ DL 644-012 + Railtour dep 28 late |
| Jesenice | 12:23 | reverse, SŽ DL 644-012 on rear, SŽ DL 643-043 leads | ||
| to km 2.5 (Hrušica) on former line to Tarvisio (13:10/13:30, reverse); then SŽ DL 644-012 alone to | ||||
| Jesenice | 13:35 | 16:53 | R 601 | SŽ DMU 813/814-006 |
| Nova Gorica | 18:40 | walk across station forecourt from Slovenia into Italy | ||
| Goricia, outside Nova Gorica station | 18:59 | '1' | bus | |
| Goricia Centrale | 19:20 | 19:42 | R 2468 | FS EL 464-694 via Udine (forms train 2469) - Treviso |
| Venezia Mestre | 21:44 | |||
| New passenger track today: Goricia Centrale - Udine - Treviso - Venezia Mestre. New non-passenger track today: Jesenice - Hrušica. |
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| Overnight: Hotel Regit, Venezia Mestre. Today's photos. | ||||
| Notes The day started with a run from Bohinjska Bistrica to Most na Soči and back with the railtour attached to the Avtovlak train, with more shunting to put both locos on the front for the last run from Most na Soči. Then the railtour continued to Jesenice, where a second loco was attached for the 2.5 km run towards Hrušica. This is now a siding serving an industrial premises, but until 1967 was a through route to Tarvisio in Italy. The bridge under the main line remains intact. At this point I left the railtour - on the way back to Ljubljana it was going to traverse the branch to Naklo from Kranj but I had travelled over this previously. I had time for some lunch in a local restaurant before getting a service train back to Nova Gorica. Here I walked across the border into Italy, caught a bus across town to Gorizia Centrale, then by train via Udine and Treviso to Venezia Mestre. |
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Tuesday 3rd May 2016
| Venezia Mestre | 09:38 | R 10016 | FS EL 464-454P | |
| Venezia Santa Lucia | 09:50 | 10:50 | ES 9714 | FS Frecciarossa EMU set 60 |
| via high speed line to Padova - Vicenza - Verona PN - Desenzano | ||||
| Brescia | 12:37 | 13:00 | R 4918 | FS EMU Ale 682-039 dep 7 late |
| Bergamo | 13:55 | 14:20 | arr 8 late Airport bus | |
| Bergamo Airport (BGY) | 14:41 | 17:15 | FR 4635 | Ryanair EI-DCH B737-800 push-back 17:15, take-off 17:21 from runway 28 |
| Sevilla Airport (SVQ) | 20:00 | 20:31 | 'EA' | landed 19:37 on runway 09, on stand 19:40 Airport bus |
| Estacion Santa Justa | 20:42 | |||
| Sevilla Santa Justa | 21:57 | 'C-4' | RENFE EMU 465 232 set clockwise circular service via Palacio de Congresos | |
| Sevilla Santa Justa | 22:24 | |||
| New passenger track today: Venezia Santa Lucia - high speed line to Padova - Vicenza - Verona PN - Desenzano - Brescia - Bergamo; Sevilla Santa Justa - Palacio de Congresos - Sevilla Santa Justa | ||||
| Overnight: AACR Hotel Monteolivos, Sevilla Santa Justa. Today's photos. | ||||
| Notes Heading to see my sister who loves near Huelva in Spain. Venezia Mestre - Venezia Santa Lucia (quick look around at the Grand Canal) - high speed train (via Padova - Vicenza - Verona PN - Desenzano - Bescia) - Brescia - local service to Bergamo. Airport bus to Bergamo Airport, then Ryanair flight FR4635 BGY to SVQ (Sevilla), then airport bus to Sevilla Santa Justa station. Checked into a nearby hotel then a circular run around Sevilla on the Cercanías C-4 service. |
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Wednesday 4th May 2016
| Sevilla Santa Justa | 10:00 | MD 13037 | RENFE DMU 598-010 | |
| Huelva | 11:38 | |||
| New passenger track today: Sevilla Santa Justa - Huelva. | ||||
| Notes By train from Sevilla to Huelva for a few days with my sister, who lives near the village of Sanlúcar de Guadiana. Today's photos. |
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Saturday 7th May 2016
| Huelva | 10:55 | MD 17907 | RENFE DMU 598-013 | |
| Mérida | 15:07 | 15:24 | RegExp 18770 | RENFE DMU 598-014 |
| Badajoz | 16:03 | 20:10 | MD 17803 | RENFE DMU 598-014 |
| Mérida | 20:55 | |||
| New passenger track today: Huelva - Zafra - Mérida - Badajoz. | ||||
| Overnight: Hotel Cervantes, Mérida (1st of 2 nights). Today's photos. | ||||
| Notes Back from my sister's place. Huelva - Zafra has a very poor service over some of its length, one train each way Fridays Saturdays and Sundays only. |
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Sunday 8th May 2016
| Mérida | 09:30 | ? | RENFE DMU 599-093/4 | |
| Cáceres | 10:25 | 12:20 | RegExp 17028 | RENFE DMU 598-003 |
| Valencia de Alcántara | 13:48 | 14:35 | RegExp 17029 | RENFE DMU 598-003 |
| Cáceres | 16:07 | 16:40 | RegExp 17823 | RENFE DMU 598-003 |
| Mérida | 17:38 | |||
| New passenger track today: Mérida - Cáceres - Valencia de Alcántara. | ||||
| Overnight: Hotel Cervantes, Mérida (2nd of 2 nights). Today's photos. | ||||
| Notes Cáceres - Valencia de Alcántara only has one train each way on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays only. |
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Monday 9th May 2016
| Mérida | 07:54 | RegExp 18773 | RENFE DMU 599-009/10 | |
| Sevilla Santa Justa | 11:33 | 12:09 | 'C-2' | RENFE EMU 446 181/2 |
| Cartuja | 12:27 | 12:42 | 'C-2' | RENFE EMU 446 181/2 |
| Sevilla Santa Justa | 13:00 | 13:27 | 'C-4' | RENFE EMU 465 234 set |
| Sevilla Santa Justa | 13:52 | |||
| Estacion Santa Justa | 14:17 | 'EA' | Airport bus | |
| Aeropuerto | 14:38 | |||
| Sevilla Airport (SVJ) | 16:45 | RYR 8364 | Ryanair EI-EPS B737-800 push-back 17:04, take-off 17:11 from runway 27 | |
| Stansted Airport (STD) | 18:27 | 18:43 | landed 18:27 on runway 22, on stand 18:29 - transit 6+7 from Gates 20-39 | |
| Stansted Airport | 18:47 | 19:15 | EMU 378 022+024 | |
| London Liverpool Street | 20:03 | 20:10 | London Underground Metropolitan Line | |
| Wembley Park | ??:?? | |||
| New passenger track today: Zafra - Los Rosales - Sevilla Santa Justa; Sevilla Santa Justa - Cartuja. | ||||
| Overnight: hotel near Wembley? Today's photos. | ||||
| Notes Part of the Zafra - Los Rosales line only has two trains per day. Time to visit the Cartuja branch and a repeat, daylight, run aroud the C-4 circle before heading to the airport. I stayed the night in Wembley. |
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Tuesday 10th May 2016
| Wembley | ? | ? | ||
| London Kings Cross | ? | ? | Electric Traction Ltd EL 87002 - UK Railtours' "The Atlantic Star" railtour | |
| York | ? | ? | ? | |
| Timperley | ? | |||
| Notes I hitched a ride on "The Atlantic Star" railtour from Kings Cross to York with 87002. Today's photos. |
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