What do Finland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Slovenia all have in common? Well apart from being European countries, they also have trains that are based on the ETR 460 “Pendolino” train – an electric multiple unit built from 1993 with tilting technology – to cut journey times by tilting on corners.
Slovenske Železnice (Slovenian Railways, SŽ) operates three of these ‘SŽ Series 310’ three-car sets, branded as InterCity Slovenia (ICS), on the Ljubljana to Maribor route alongside regional stopping services and the once a day international EuroCity ‘Emona’ train from Trieste to Vienna. These trains, built in the year 2000, used to cross the border into Italy, connecting Maribor and Ljubljana with Venice in the early noughties, however, unfortunately this was withdrawn.
In September 2023, I took a trip on the SŽ Pendolino from Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana, to the country’s second largest city, Maribor – a journey taking just over two hours. The journey in First Class accommodation was highly enjoyable, not just from a train comfort perspective, but, also a scenery perspective.
As the ICS is an express service, only three stops were made en route – at the important railway junction at Zidani Most, the city of Celje and the town of Pragersko. Here’s the all important route map of the journey:
Departure from Ljubljana
Built originally in 1848 and redeveloped in 1980 is Ljubljana’s railway station, home to international services from Croatia, Hungary, Germany, Austria and Italy as well as domestic services from across Slovenia serving the city. You’ll certainly get your steps in on this concourse with its long platforms and walks between facilities. The station houses a booking office, left luggage lockers, toilets and catering facilities. These are all well signposted within the station, however, allow plenty of time to reach the platform as if you are late the train won’t wait! The last time I visited Ljubljana, on one of my first Interrail trips, I managed to miss the train to Lesce Bled (for the wonderful Lake Bled), so more time had to be spent in the station’s McDonalds restaurant.
Onboard the ICS Pendolino
First Class Accommodation
First Class accommodation on the SŽ Pendolino come in a 2+1 configuration with seats that will be recognisable to any long-distance travellers in Germany – the seats on the train are the same seats as some of the older Deutsche Bahn InterCity Express trains! These leather seats with attached pillow bearing the SŽ logo are comfortable and ideal for long distance journeys with adequate legroom between the seats.
There’s also power sockets available, fold out tables at every seat and electronically controlled window blinds. I don’t tend to sleep on train journeys in seats, but this journey saw me do just that for a few moments.
There are no additional perks to booking First Class other than the hard product – what you’re paying for is the larger seat, more space between the seats and often quieter travel environment.
Second Class Accommodation
Second Class accommodation on the SŽ Pendolino perfectly meets the average traveller’s needs with seats in a 2+2 configuration mainly in an airline style with some around tables of four. Legroom is reasonable and the electronic window blinds seen in First Class are also present in Second Class.
Bar or no bar?
The SŽ Pendolino has an onboard catering facility in the form of a takeaway Café Bar, with its mahogany and terracotta colour scheme from a by-gone era. Unfortunately, we couldn’t test this facility as it is currently closed on trains on weekends, with no catering available onboard at all. Just to make us envious of weekday travellers, the display cabinet did have a selection of snacks including a personal favourite from trips around Europe, Manner Neapolitan Wafers from Vienna. On Twitter, SŽ have confirmed that they plan to introduce catering on weekends in the near future.
Scenery
There is more to this journey than the train itself on the route from Ljubljana and Maribor. The train travels alongside the rivers Sava and Savinja for the entire journey with green waters, lush green hills and mountains with dense forests. They do say Slovenia is one of the most forested countries in Europe and this trip certainly would make you believe this. Bliss.
Arrival at Maribor
Maribor railway station was built in 1844 and recently upgraded in 2021 with new platforms constructed and track renovated. The station has a booking office, left luggage facilities and places to buy food and drink and offers direct services to various international destinations including Croatia, Austria, Hungary and Italy as well as domestic destinations served by InterCity and Regional trains.
Booking and Fares
Tickets for travel on the SŽ Pendolino can be bought directly from the website of the Slovenian Railways categorised as “ICS”, English language option available in addition to Slovenian. Ensure that the option “IC / EC / EN / MV / ICS” is selected to see results for these longer distance train categories, including the ICS. First Class accommodation is only a few Euros more, so worth the upgrade if you value more space.
| Journey Leg | First Class | Second Class |
| Ljubljana to Maribor | 21,60 EUR | 15,40 EUR |
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Conclusion
The futuristic InterCity Slovenia may be a good few years old now, but it certainly remains a pleasant way to travel across the beautiful country of Slovenia. The seats in both First and Second Class are comfortable and feature a few nice touches including electronic window blinds and fold out tables. It’s a shame there there is no catering available at weekends as I would certainly have taken advantage of this facility – though it’s good to hear that this is coming in the future!
This travel report was first published in November 2023.
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