Motorail trains – which carry both vehicles and their passengers – have become something of a rarity across Europe today. The few that remain are mostly tied to overnight services, coupled with night trains to save time and effort while you sleep. By morning, you and your car are ready to continue the journey by road, refreshed and a step closer to your destination.
Slovenia has its own motorail service, the Avtovlak, with a very different set-up. This links Nova Gorica and Most na Soči to Bohinjska Bistrica each way via the Bohinj railway and tunnel. The shortest journey from Most na Soči, where most of the trains start from Bohinjska Bistrica, is no more than thirty kilometres in length. Too short to be of any purpose? Well, no. Thanks to this railway tunnel, the train saves around half an hour of travel around the complex moutainous terrain of the Julian Alps by road.
The train departs five times a day in each direction from Most na Soči to Bohinjska Bistrica. Once a day the train starts further south at Nova Gorica before calling at Podbrdo en-route for picking up and dropping off of passengers only. This is before picking up more vehicles at Most na Soči before the final leg to Bohinjska Bistrica.
We’re no stranger to motorail trips here at Rail-Away. This year, I wrote about Europe’s longest motorail service, the Optima Express from Villach, Austria to Edirne, Türkiye. If you have missed this epic adventure, you can catch-up on it here (link opens in a new tab).
I couldn’t resist taking a trip on the longest motorail journey possible on the Bohinj railway, even though it required an early 05:30 alarm for a 06:30 departure. Operated by Slovenske Železnice (Slovenian Railways, SŽ), this train is more than a simple A to B journey as you’ll soon find out.
Before we get further into it, here’s the all important route map of the SŽ Avtovlak from Nova Gorica to Bohinjska Bistrica (train number AVT 850).
Departure from Nova Gorica
Nova Gorica is worth a visit. Not only is it a city in its own right, with its modern architecture and vibrant streets. It’s position is unique in that you can also tick two cities and countries in one by a simple walk across the Italian border. This is to contrasting Gorizia, with its charming old town. This border is just steps away from the entrance to Nova Gorica railway station in the adjacient square.
This year, Nova Gorica celebrates the European Capital of Culture, and to mark the occasion Nova Gorica station has been spruced up with infrastructure upgrades, a lick of fresh paint and the construction of a new underpass – and it’s looking very smart.
Facilities wise, Nova Gorica station offers a staffed booking office, waiting room, a café/bar and a museum.
If you’re a fan of visiting museums, this trip is for you. On it you’ll find not only one, but two station museums and a third onboard our featured train. Yes, the passenger carriage on the SŽ Avtovlak has its own exhibits all about the Bohinj railway!
This will be the first train carriage museum featured at Rail-Away, but we have featured an onboard art gallery before, as featured on the Tatran Express across Slovakia. This travel report can be viewed here (link opens in a new tab).
A theme throughout Slovenia, and indeed many of the Balkan countries, is to display locomotives outside of the railway stations. Nova Gorica has a former Yugoslav Railways (JŽ) class 118 – in better condition than a lot I’ve seen, perhaps due to the recent improvement works or the affiliation with the museum.
As indicated by posters in the station, and confirmed again by the helpful booking office clerk, the SŽ Avtovlak departs from a new platform which is a 5-10 minute walk away from the station building, alongside the track – Platform 9. Having located the platform easily, our train was in sight and ready for boarding.
Onboard the Slovenian Railways Avtovlak
The Slovenian Railways (Slovenske Železnice, SŽ) Avtovlak conveyed several car carrying wagons and a sole Second Class carriage for passengers travelling without vehicles. These were hauled by a SŽ series 664 locomotive built in the 1970s in a traditional livery to match.
Anyone travelling with a car makes the journey sat in the comfort of their own vehicle – a different type of experience for sure. For us foot passengers we headed for the passenger carriage for our experience to remember.
Second Class accommodation
Our single passenger carriage was attached to the rear, donning a bright green livery and branded with the ‘Gremz Vlakom’ campaign of the SŽ, translating to ‘I’m going by train’. It was hard to make out the livery unfortunately due to that age old problem of graffiti. I could regonise the head of the main man, Maks Klodič, however, the Chief Engineer of the Bohinj railway.
For anyone who may have travelled on international routes to and from Slovenia, the interior may be recognisable. These same carriages, prior to modification for this route, ply on trains such as the EuroCity Sava from Villach to Vinkovci (coming to the site soon).
These feature seating for up to six passengers across seven comparments.
The SŽ Avtovlak also contains a single First Class compartment, recognisable by a pre-dominantly purple seat moquette with matching curtains. As lovely as it would have been to sit in here, it was closed to passengers. I had assumed this anyway by the closed curtains on the door that I had sneekily peered around for a picture and at the window. This compartment had already been commendeered by the friendly conductor.
The only other difference between First Class and Second Class were the former were slightly larger. The compartments contain the same seats as Second Class that instead feature an equally tasteful green moquette.
The passenger carriage contains a large area for bicycles. A notice on the door says ‘no exit – except for passengers with bicycles’. Passengers without bicycles enter and leave from the other end of the carriage through the shutters.
Onboard museum
The SŽ have tastefully utilised the interior for an onboard museum dedicated to the route. As we entered the carriage, we were presented with an introduction to the engineer, Maks Klodič, with more information in the corridor.
Additionally, each compartment and bike storage bay has its own theme. Compartment number six for example, has a theme about the stone used to construct the Bohinj tunnel. There’s also some cartoons for younger travellers to enjoy.
A break in Most na Soči
As mentioned, the majority of services start from Most na Soči, translating as the ‘bridge on the Soči river’. Here there was an opportunity for cars to alight or join the service in the twenty or so minutes pause the train had.
With no catering available on the train, we took the opportunity to visit the enticing station café, with outdoor seating next to the platforms enjoying a coffee and a juice to rehydrate.
Thankfully before leaving the train, I spoke to the conductor who confirmed we had twenty minutes and warned us that the train would need to shunt to access the northbound line. This was so we were not to be alarmed at it suddenly moving before its departure time.
Here the train was shunted to its new platform.
Scenery Showcase
Scenery wise, the route of the SŽ Avtovlak offers many scenic highlights on its journey from Nova Gorica to Bohinjska Bistrica via Most na Soči. The SŽ Avtovlak is indeed the best train to enjoy this. Not only can you open the window in the compartments and corridor, there’s also a view out the front of the passenger carriage. You’ll likely not read all of the exhibits as the journey itself is attention grabbing enough.
Following departure from Nova Gorica, the train soon crossed over the mighty high Solkan bridge, the world’s longest stone arch railroad bridge. It’s a case of blink and you’ll miss it though – and I did miss it so I don’t have a picture!
Then the train weaves in and out of forested gorges before arriving at Most na Soči. This only got better as the journey got on with the sun catching the trees and some pretty mountain side villages in view. Then, close to Bohinjska Bistrica, the train entered the Bohinj tunnel, which took a good ten minutes or so to traverse.
Please note: a scenery showcase video will follow at a later date showing more of the views en route.
Arrival at Bohinjska Bistrica
The SŽ Avtovlak arrived on schedule at Bohinjska Bistrica railway station, where passengers waited to board the much busier southbound service to Most na Soči.
The station offers some basic facilities including toilets, a booking office and also offers the third museum of the day – its own exhibition in the waiting room.
Booking the SŽ Avtovlak
Tickets for the Avtovlak (with vehicle or without vehicle) can only be purchased on the train, payable to the conductor. The online booking engine for the Slovenian railways does allow the purchase of fares, however, having spoken to the booking office in Nova Gorica these are payable on the train only.
Below is the current table of fares (correct at time of publishing) as well as the definitions providing by Slovenske Železnice. These can be checked here.
| Price per passenger | Tariff Class 1 (€) | Tariff Class 2 (€) | Tariff Class 3 (€) | Four-wheelers (€) | |
| Nova Gorica – Bohinjska Bistrica | €5,80 | €14,00 | €20,60 | €28,00 | €11,20 |
| Most na Soči – Bohinjska Bistric | €3,10 | €14,00 | €20,60 | €28,00 | €11,20 |
Tariff Class 1: For accompanied cars with a trailer up to 5m in length and the driver.
Tariff Class 2: For accompanied cars with a trailer over 5m in length, vans, camper vans, trailer caravans, and the driver.
Tariff Class 3: For pickups and the driver.
Four-wheelers: Fares for four-wheelers.
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Conclusion
The Motorail train (Avtovlak) of the Slovenian Railways (Slovenske Železnice, SŽ) is more than a way to travel efficiently across the Julian Alps with a car – it is a tourist attraction in its own right. The passenger carriage for foot passengers, has its own onboard museum as well as comfortable compartments for seating and plenty of bicycle storage.
It was well worth taking the once a day train that starts further south in Nova Gorica, enjoying the city as well as the station facilities. It is a very early start, but having longer to enjoy the scenic train ride completely paid off.
This travel report was first published in September 2025.
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Excellent, informative and enjoyable read as always!