REPORT ON TRIP TO AUSTRIA, SLOVENIJA AND CROATIA Date: 20 February 1996 By: Philip Richards CompuServe: 101471,731 Saturday 3 February 1996 Less than one month after its opening, Ashford International is still spick and span. Certainly for the residents of Kent (in South East England) such as myself, the thought of going up to London to come back seemed such a pity. But that chapter has now closed, Eurostar is by far the best thing that has ever happened to International Rail travel from the UK. Unfortunately running up to 12 trains per day each to Paris with nearly 800 seats has caused the problem of how to fill them all. Travel out and back on a Friday or Sunday afternoon to Paris you'll see straight away there is a market out there, but go out like I did midday on a Saturday and you can have a whole block of seats to yourself! Certainly the three participating railways have got along way to go, the fare structure at the moment is buoyant with some good deals to be had. Other countries nearby seem to have difficulty in accepting it based on my experience in the International Rail Travel business, try offering it to the average German traveller whose only experience of getting to Britain in the past by surface travel was by using the ferry and see what happens! Anyway that's enough of that. Paris was just the first leg of my long awaited trip to Austria, Slovenija and Croatia. My reason for choosing this route was this was by far the most practical, and for me, cheapest way. The Eurostar got me into Paris spot on time and I had a couple of hours to kill before my overnight journey into Austria. Train 263, 1943 Paris Est to Budapest still bears the classic name attached to many well known European trains. "The Orient Express" (not to be confused with the "Venice Simplon Orient Express") taking the original route via Strasbourg, Stuttgart, Munchen (actually by passing the Hbf), Salzburg before going onto Wien and finally Budapest. The Budapest portion is now 2 carriages, one seats, the other couchettes. However I was reserved in the portion going as far as Wien and as luck would have it, a 6 berth couchette compartment all to myself for the night! Sunday 4 February 1996 The "Orient Express" pulled into Linz on time at 0725 with DB 103.129 on the front where I was to alight and after a bite for breakfast and a welcome off loading of my rucksack, I headed off to the Stern and Hafferl (StH) station, Linz Lokalbahn about five minutes walk away. This was the first of many journeys over the next week which I had to pay for! For the benefit of those not in the know, for railway employees (like myself) of the National railway networks of Europe (and some private systems, notably Switzerland) a scheme known as F.I.P. exists. Very basically employees (and there dependants) are entitled to various quotas of free travel per year in one another's country on a reciprocal basis. However this is not always applicable to privately owned systems found around Europe. One of the biggest fears amongst Railway employees here in the UK is the potential of losing our travel facilities one of theses days. Meanwhile back to Linz Lokalbahn, at 0815 on a Sunday morning the booking office was not open with a notice to pay on the train, understandable when the train left with only about half a dozen aboard. The Stern & Hafferl is split up into several separate networks of which several were on my plan for the day. The system out of Linz is abbreviated to LILO (Linzer Lokalbahn) which the stock is shared with the NWP (Neumarkt - Waizenkirchen - Peuerbach) thus forming one system, electrified at 800V dc and worked by a collection of railcars with several antique locos scattered around the network, mainly for what little freight there is and specials. I completed the whole system by staying on the same train (ET 22.136 + trailer ES 22.236) which covered the short branch to Peuerbach before continuing to the end of line at Neumarkt-Kallham. Usual good timetable planning ensured a minimal 5 minutes from the StH back onto the OBB at Neumarkt-Kallham before I returned to Wels. From Wels I notice that the Westbound InterCity which should be running an hour before my planned train was running 55 late! I opt to take a chance with my plan and fortunately in pulled in more or less on time. The OBB still run some long trains, IC564 was load 14 with the rear 4 detached at Attnang-Puchheim which formed the onwards train on the beautifully scenic line to Stainach-Irdning. A much as I would like to have covered it again especially with ideal snowy conditions, the plan was the to alight at Gmunden and then to get across to the other station in the town. Despite only a relatively a small town, Gmunden possesses its own tram system albeit one line with just 4 cars. The tram (again owned by StH!) connects neatly with the OBB train for a 9 minute, very steep downhill run, to the town centre, 9.6% maximum gradient to be precise. Only one car was working today, GM8, the baby of the fleet built in 1962 and forms a half hourly shuttle off season. On reaching the end of the line in the town (Franz Josefs Platz) I had to ask some locals a couple of times for directions to the Seebahnhof which is across the bridge and turn right along the lake side. After locating the Seebf, I went for a quick meal before taking the 800V dc metre gauge system (abbreviated to GV) with unit ET 23.109 onto Vorchdorf-Eggenburg. The Seebf was at one time an OBB station (and still bears OBB signing) but the closure of the OBB line has allowed the narrow gauge line to be diverted from the former Stern & Hafferl terminus (Gmunden Traundorf). Again staffing levels have been reduced to a bear minimum and I obtained my ticket off the driver for the journey all the way to Haag am Hausruck. The narrow gauge line climbs up quite away until it reaches the interchange with the standard gauge at Vorchdorf-Eggenburg which is quite an amazing place with rolling stock of both gauges of various vintages littered about making excellent photographs in the snow. Newcomer to the StH was a recently delivered pair of Be4/4s from the WSB in Switzerland, numbers 7 & 8 still in their original colours! The next move was onto Lambach (LVE System), same voltage but standard gauge in the hands of ET 20.110. Lambach forms both the interchange with the OBB and the other StH line to Haag am Hausruck (LH), the line is actually shared with the OBB for the 5 Kms as far as the junction at Neukirchen bei Lambach. I must admit I was a little confused with the run up the branch, the unit ET 24.104 being equipped for 800V dc only and yet ran over the OBB which is 15kV ac and did not operate with a transformer unit, any help on the matter would be appreciated. The return working (train 8269) was a through working to Wels and on arrival at Haag am Hausruck, the driver swapped over units and I returned with dual voltage unit ET 25.104 which also bears OBB running number 4855.001, the train departing from just outside the shed and not from the platform by the station building! I finished off the day by changing at Wels for the short ride onto Linz where I stayed the first night in a Gasthof about 10 minutes walk from the station. Monday 5 February 1996 Today's plans were to cover just one private line, namely the Steiermarkische Landesbahnen line from Uzmarkt to Tamsweg. But before I reached there, I had to spend all morning getting there, after a sociable start (0840) I took one of the very comfortable OBB Class 4010 units on IC503 as far as St Michael where the 5 minute connection with the all stations stopper to Unzmarkt worked perfectly. The weather and scenery was in its full glory this morning and the lightly loaded InterCity made the journey even more pleasurable. Couldn't see much of the shed at Knittlefeld going, being one of the largest depots in the area. I wasn't able to get a return ticket to Tamsweg at Unzmarkt and altogether the round trip cost a staggering AS228! This 760mm line one of the most picturesque line I have covered in Austria, starts on the "wrong side" of the main line before diving under and continuing a slow climb to a height of 1019 metres above sea level, one of the highest narrow gauge termini in Austria. The only down point of the "Murtalbahn" in my opinion was the uncomfortable units on which the OBB Class 5090s have been based on not to mention the appalling red and green livery! The unit I took up and back (VT 33) ran with a matching trailer, unnecessary at the start of the journey but we first hit the lunchtime rush of school children going home (a very familiar occurrence on lines on the continent, and something I usually encounter most weekdays when away!) Then once the school children got off and made their way home, then on got more all out skiing for the afternoon! Tamsweg is a pleasant town to spend an hour or so before returning back to Unzmarkt. Then my train journey for the day, back onto the OBB and onto St Veit a.d. Glan where I was to spend the night. Tuesday 6 February Another relatively late start, I continued via Klagenfurt to Villach where my first priority was to try and get hold of some Croatian currency (Kuna). Banks in the UK certainly don't seem too interested, I thought I may have luck in Austria as I only had a little Kuna left over from my previous visit, certainly not enough for a meal or a room for the night. No luck in obtaining, I optimistically thought I'd be able to get some when I got to the border (read on!) My exit out of Austria via the 8 km Karawanken Tunnel into Slovenija was in one of the SZ (Slovenian Railways) Class 711 DMUs, until recently all first class but declassified and a very civilised way to enter the former Jugoslavia. I didn't have much at Jesenice and nearly missed my next train as I was frantically photographing locos around the station and yard. I continued again in the comfort of an SZ DMU via the very scenic line via Nova Gorica and eventually the further south we headed the thinner the snow got, ending up with bright skies and springtime temperatures. Got a glimpse of Italian diesel D345.1065 at Nova Gorica, the border with Italy is not too far away, although now closed to passenger trains. For this trip I missed out the branch from Nova Gorica to Ajdovscina, a good excuse to come back another time I suppose as the aim was to get to Pula for the night. A couple of tight 5/10 minute connections (trains running very well to time) first at Sezana, then Divaca and it wasn't before I was on my way out of Slovenija. Since the formation of the new borders within the former Jugoslavia, the railways have had to follow suit and consequently in a majority of cases you end up changing trains at the border. Although not my first visit to these countries, I was in for a bit of a surprise at Buzet, just inside Croatia, a simple station in the middle of nowhere where the SZ train terminated. The connection forward wasn't immediate, time I thought to change up money and a coffee perhaps! But no such luck, the railway staff all congregate in the Red Caps office whilst the Police (Policija) who normally reside in a Portacabin hut come out to check half a dozen or so passports. Buzet was certainly at the back of beyond, the town was just about visible, right at the bottom of the valley! The hour went by quite slowly but the peace and tranquillity was disturbed when GM built HZ loco 2 062.037 looking very out of place on it load of 2 came around the corner. The SZ unit departed soon after the arrival of the train, thus freeing the loop for the loco to run round. The next two hours was spent up front listening to the lovely sound of the GM loco and amazing scenery before it got dark. The line ends up in Pula, a lively Adriatic coastal resort where I took the chance and didn't book any accommodation in advance. The station is quite away from the town, dominated by a huge Roman Amphitheatre, after about 20 or so minutes looking around I eventually found a hotel for the night. The only problem was I still had no Croatian currency, although they took American Express all I had was Visa which they couldn't accept and the reception said "the exchange shop is now closed!" With a bit of negotiation I offered to pay in Austrian currency and get a little change in back in Kuna! Wednesday 7 February 1996 Early start this morning, the hotel staff gave me a lunch pack instead of breakfast but plenty of coffee shops were open in the town on my walk back to the station for breakfast. A different loco back on the 0650 to Buzet (2062.040) and the climb going out was something to finish my memorable of this line by. Back to Buzet, change back to the SZ (this line is completely isolated from the rest of Croatia although there are ambitious plans to construct a new line to the rest of the HZ) and more loco haulage in the form of SZ electric 342.003 from Divaca to Ljubljana. I had just over an hour at this busy station serving the capital city of Slovenija. Most services in Slovenija are worked by DMUs and EMUs with many familiar designs seen in other countries. The EMUs (Class 311) being Pafaweg built EMUs, the most common being the PKP Class EN57. Moving onto the DMUs the Class 813/814 are based on the Fiat built units FS ALn668s. On the loco front, the FS Class E645 "Armadillo" design are to be found as SZ Class 362 whilst the characteristic Alstholm built Class 363 are identical to their French and Dutch cousins. My next move was by the modern DMU Class 713/715 on the very scenic route heading south through Trebjne, Novo Mesto (surprised here to find a loco depot housing GM-EMD built Class 644s) before finally reaching the Croatian border at Metlika. Once again it was all change from the comfort of a nice warm SZ train into the freezing conditions outside to watch the connecting HZ train pull in. And more familiar sights from other parts of Europe, the good old faithful Scheinenbusse still lives on (just!) in Croatia Class 7 221 power car having to run around its trailer (Class 4 221). The livery was an unusual silver, filthy dirty inside and out, hardly any heating despite the strong smell off paraffin! A couple of stops after Metlika we arrived at the 'Political' border of Croatia an unstaffed halt named Bubnjarci where the Policija duly came out for frontier checks. It can't be an everyday they get a British Passport holder, with a degree of suspicion the two Policemen walked off with my passport leaving me to wait on the train and went back in their office to leave me to suffer the embarrassment of having a carriage full of locals stare at me since by now I was holding up their train! The Policija came back about 5 minutes later and seemed reasonably happy, so off we set. The branch joins up with the electrified line at Karlovac where my plan was to have an hours wait for the next train to Zagreb. Since the timetable has come into force, services have resumed on the line to Split (and more recently on the branch from Knin to Zadar) largely because of the recapturing by the Croats from the Serbs of the Kryina region. It turned out one of the trains was due within about 30 minutes of me arriving, although a few minutes late it was good to see the train well loaded a sign of railway services in Croatia getting back on their feet. Arriving in the Croatian capital of Zagreb has a very Eastern European feel. I had booked a night in the Youth Hostel, hotel rooms are apparently solidly booked by NATO and the media, a couple of hotels I phoned were simply not interested in taking a booking for just one night. After a meal, I went and made more investigations for timetable information for the lines to Split and Zadar, although there was no chance of getting to cover the lines this time, the information was well worth taking note of, it all had to be copied down, absolutely no leaflets for the public at all! Thursday 8 February 1996 As the Youth Hostel did not serve a breakfast, I made an earlier departure and couldn't resist another GM hauled train. So I left Zagreb earlier on the 0724 departure to Kotoriba pulled by 2 043.004 complete with vintage 4 wheeled carriages. Sadly I had to leave the train at Zabok to get back to my original plan but superb snow conditions and other GM hauled trains made it a memorable time. I then covered the short branch to Gornja Stubica worked by a 4 car Class 7 121 DMU, with snow up to my knees in places trying to get the obligatory "end of the line" photographs! Then it was back to Zabok and another Class 7121 DMU up to the Slovenian border at Durmanec. A swift change onto the SZ, fortunately no stamp in the passport here as I was to criss-cross back and forth over the border 3 times altogether today, that may have caused a few eyebrows to be raised! SZ 813/815 DMU to Celje where I was to spent the night in a prebooked hotel, in the 40 minutes wait I managed to get my Ruck Sack deposited in my room before going to back to the station for the next run into Croatia! Again Class 813/815 DMU as far as Kumrovec with a 4 minute connection into the HZ train forward (Class 7 121 DMU) to Savski Marof. Once again I managed to cause problems on the passport front, this time at Savski Marof! The train from Zagreb to Pula (via Slovenija) was running late and upon making some attempt an enquiring what was going on (I was the only person waiting at the station!) with the guy in the booking office using my HZ timetable to indicate my intended train all I got was a shake of the head with the suggestion that I wasn't supposed to get on here as passports are checked on the train! Nevertheless he had a word with the Red Cap who in turn picked up the phone and called the Policija (who were right next door in a Portacabin!) then suddenly in pulled the late running train! Within seconds flat two Policemen appeared only letting me on the train once they had a good look through my Passport! Within in minutes were at the Slovenian border HZ 1142.005 being exchanged for SZ 342.024 and more thorough passport checks, this time by the Slovenian Policija! I alighted from the train at Sevnica to cover an out and back run to Trebjne (to complete the line) then finally onto Zidani Most and finally Celje for the night. Friday 9 February 1996 I said goodbye to Slovenija this morning, and left the country in style behind "Armadillo" loco 362.031 as far as Spielfeld Strass on IC512/158 "Croatia" to Wien. Back into Austria, change of loco involves the OBB loco first shunting the Slovenian loco off before coupling up to the train, obviously due to the voltage change. 1044.061 took over, but I alighted at Graz to start the second part covering the private lines. The first private line of the day was the Steiermarkische Landesbahnen (StLB) branch from Peggau-Deutschfeistritz to Ubelbach, a mere 10 Kms long with plenty of stock to go around. Unit ET 14 + trailer ES 24 worked the service up and back. At Ubelbach the rest of the fleet (nearly all Swiss built) was all there including some newcomers in the form of BDe4/4 93 + 94 taken delivery from the SZU. Back to Graz, the rest of the day was spent on the Graz Koflacher Bahn. As far as private outfits go, this one certainly that stands out as one of the most impressive operations. Until a few years ago coal traffic was the dominant traffic with passenger services being of secondary importance. The trend has now turned the other way with a fleet of modern 2 car railcars (Class VT 70) built in the early 1980s by Simmering Graz Pauker right on the railways doorstep! Traffic has expanded and unusually for a private railway has recently taken delivery of double deck stock (the first to operate in Austria) push pulled by a fleet of Class of Class V 1500 locos, 6 built by Jenbacher Werker, the most recent order (V 1500.7) in 1992 going to MaK. I set off from Graz in a 6 car set on the 1420 from Graz to Wies-Eibiswald, with loadings being very good and a lot of intermediate traffic between stations along the line. We seemed to cross over more or less alternately with trains formed of DMUs and V 1500 on load 3 double deckers. Although not advertised in the public timetable, connecting services at the junction station, Lieboch, were seen to join up and continue onto Graz as either loads of up to 5 x 2 car DMUs or two double deck sets! From Wies-Eibiswald I returned back to Lieboch and sampled one of the double deck sets being pushed by V 1500.4 onto Koflach where my days travels ended. With daylight in short supply I was keen to be at most of the strategic points of the various lines in daylight for photography hence the reason for starting the next day at Koflach. Saturday 10 February 1996 Having spent the night at a typical family run Pension in Koflach I had to request an early breakfast in order to take the 0800 departure to Graz this morning. It would appear the double deck sets do not work at weekends with traffic levels being less, a 4 car VT 70 was more than sufficient for the 44 minute run into Graz. Since I was travelling free on the OBB, for most of the private railways it was a simple case of purchasing a ticket in between changing trains. However for my next private line, the StLB line from Gleisdorf to Weiz I had just 3 minutes to change. No problems in obtaining a ticket in advance from the ticket windows at Graz just for the private line, full co-operation here amongst the various railways something we are about to see disappear here in the UK! I head off to Gleisdorf behind 2143.056, the connection being easily made. The line onto Weiz is non electrified, the train up the branch was single car DMU VT 51 which is identical to the OBB Class 5047, in fact it bears the number of 5047.401 as they are passed to operate over the OBB line to Graz. The terminus at Weiz is actually Weiz Stadt a simple single track arrangement with all the interest being at Weiz itself literally only about 300 metres or so away! VT 51 returned to Weiz and joined up with its sister unit VT 52 (OBB 5047.402) and I had a brief wander around in the 20 or so minutes. Unfortunately the shed was locked and there was no sign of any narrow gauge locos being presumably out of use for the winter months. The 2 car unit returned to Gleisdorf before reversing and continuing to Graz. I alighted here to take 2043.030 on to Feldbach the junction of line to Bad Gleichenberg. An unusual set up being that the OBB line from Graz to Szenthgotthard/Wiener Neustadt is non electrified, catenary up all around the station for a simple single car shuttle service! The Saturday lunchtime service was sparsely loaded to say the least, ET 2 one of two 1930 built railcars was in charge. The line is standard gauge, electrified at 1000V dc. At least the StLB have done their best to keep staffing levels to a bare minimum with the all stations unstaffed, the driver of my train was probably the only member of staff rostered to be on duty that day! A beautiful ride up into the hills, you could be mistaken you were in Switzerland, but half an hour at the end of the line was more than enough. On the way back I had plenty of time before my connection back to Graz so I alighted at Feldbach Landesbahn about, to investigate the shed. Half expecting it to be locked up the driver had obviously forgotten when he took ET 2 out earlier that morning and I managed to get a view of ET 1 and the lines sole electric loco, E 41 again of 1930 vintage. My Austrian stock book also listed the line to have a diesel loco on its books, RT 1 but alas it was nowhere to be seen. I then took a walk back via the town centre, had a meal before returning to the OBB station. My run back to Graz was behind 2143.045. From here it was really straight back home, all the interesting bits were over. I had a long 4 hour ride cross country from Graz to Salzburg in a Class 4010 EM on IC614, the EMU being necessary due to the three reversals en route (Bruck a.d. Mur, Selzthal and finally Bishofshofen). Now timekeeping had been pretty good all week and I had 19 minutes to make my connection at Salzburg onto Paris. Virtually from the word go we started to loose time, then the all to familiar syndrome of a lost path meant we were soon 20 minutes late. With no time being made up I was having doubts as to whether I would make the connection! Despite pulling in nearly 25 late into Salzburg, the "Orient Express" was still waiting as I quickly passed through the Zoll and passport control half way down the platform! A close shave! Sunday 11 February 1996 Quite a contrast to my outward journey from Paris, a fully loaded couchette compartment. After some slack running on the main line from Strasbourg we managed to pull in to Gare d'Est spot on time. Paris Est had an eerie feeling at 0940 on a Sunday, people may rave about how brilliant the SNCF is but the next main line departure wasn't until after midday doesn't give a very good advert for service frequency compared to what most other countries around Europe are used to! Over to the Gare du Nord, after a breakfast, I headed out to St Denis, the first stop out, to photograph TGVs and what ever else passed through. With Ashford still only having a token gesture of Eurostar services, I wasn't booked out until 1307. Check in opened up at 1220 and I was one of the first through. Previously Eurostar security checks in Paris have been erratic, on some cases I have been directed straight through without my bags going through the X Ray machine, but not today. In view of the end of the IRA ceasefire no short cuts were being taken as groups of about 20 passengers were asked to stand in a line with their baggage about a metre in front for the sniffer dogs to have a very good sniff! The journey itself was like most other Eurostar journeys, uneventful and spot on time. So within 50 minutes of coming out of the Channel Tunnel I was back home in doors. With the railways of mainland Europe being that close it I hard to stay way and so another successful trip over, one I shall certainly remember for a long time. Finally for those interested in covering the private lines of Austria, I have detailed the costs of the private line fares. Depending on what sort of ticket you are travelling around on, be it InterRail, Eurail Pass etc. this will only cover the OBB lines, although the InterRail Pass does offer a 50% reduction on the StLB lines. Prices (2nd Class) in Austrian Schillings as at February 1996: StH Linz Lokalbahn - Neumarkt-Kallham Single: AS 94 StH Gmunden Bf - Franz Josefs Platz (Tram) Single AS 14 StH Gmunden Seebf - Haag am Hausruck Single AS116 StH Haag am Hausruck - Lambach Single AS 52 StLB Unzmarkt - Tamsweg Return AS228 StLB Peggau-Deutschfeiestritz - Ubelbach Return AS 40 GKB Graz - Wies-Eibiswald Single AS110 GKB Wies-Eibiswald - Koflach Single AS128 GKB Koflach - Graz Single AS 68 StLB Gleisdorf - Weiz Stadt Return AS 68 StLB Feldbach - Bad Gleichenberg Return AS 68 General Note: This is my first contribution to CompuServe's TrainNet Forum, although I have been regularly contributing to a UK "Fanzine" called European Report for some years though that tends to be more number orientated than script. Therefore I would be glad to hear from anyone who has taken the trouble to download and read this article. Therefore if you have any comments, suggestions or just general questions then please e-mail me, I look forward to hearing from you and I will get back to you if I can. My next planned visit is to Corsica in late March albeit only for a couple of days, subject to your views and comments I hope to write a similar article.