Ljubljana to Zagreb - itinerary and booking/reservation options

I will be travelling from Ljubljana to Zagreb on Sunday 3rd March. I had planned to take the 08:30 Euronight service - EN 40237/40415 from Zürich HB/Stuttgart.

However, upon trying to get a seat reservation (I'm considering using an Interrail day) or buy a ticket I get either an error message or 'no availability' on every site I've tried - ÖBB, DB, SBB, or the Interrail reservation service. The Slovenian and Croatian railways' websites don't seem to offer international ticketing.

When I try searching from a different origin on the same train it turns out that there is in fact availability from any station in Switzerland, Germany or Austria (e.g. Villach), with a Sparschein (Advance) in the seated portion from the latter being available for €19.90.

That's not a bad price, but considering I am travelling from Ljubljana I'd rather have a reservation from there to avoid my unclaimed seat being taken by someone else. And if I used my Interrail I would only expect to pay a few Euros for the reservation anyway.

Am I missing an obvious trick here here - is the train somehow affected by late notice engineering works? Is there some way of making a reservation for this train for a journey outwith the Germanic countries, or is it just a matter of turning up the day before and hoping there'll be seats left when I go to the ticket office in Ljubljana? FWIW I'll have the opportunity to go to a Swiss or Italian ticket office before this date, but I'm not entirely confident I'll be able to get the reservation at either.

Are there any obvious alternative routes I should consider? I need to be in Zagreb by around 3pm and have actually done the direct route a couple of times before, but I don't think it is possible to travel via Trebnje (let alone Karlovac) in the time I have.

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Watershed said:

Is there some way of making a reservation for this train for a journey outwith the Germanic countries, or is it just a matter of turning up the day before and hoping there'll be seats left when I go to the ticket office in Ljubljana? FWIW I'll have the opportunity to go to a Swiss or Italian ticket office before this date, but I'm not entirely confident I'll be able to get the reservation at either.

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You can't book reservations from Ljubljana to Zagreb on that train, it's just a case of finding an empty seat on the day (the Rail Planner app is incorrect for that section).

Anyone know the likely loadings Ljubljana <> Zagreb by season (I last used it in the mid-1990s so irrelevant now)? I might go that way in April or early May.

I assume you've looked at Vagonweb and are concerned because there are only 2 seated coaches on EN415/40465. EC211 is 5 as far as Zagreb, EC213 only 3.

Maybe demand for rail really is that small. Flixbus are much more frequent, 15+ per day, about the same journey time.

Mainline421 said:

You can't book reservations from Ljubljana to Zagreb on that train, it's just a case of finding an empty seat on the day (the Rail Planner app is incorrect for that section).

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I see. There's no information I can see anywhere that makes this clear; it's marked as reservations compulsory throughout but I suppose it's a question of Slovenian/Croatian onboard staff not enforcing this?

nwales58 said:

Maybe demand for rail really is that small. Flixbus are much more frequent, 15+ per day, about the same journey time.

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Yes, I suppose I could take Flixbus as a backup but my preferred option would definitely be rail if possible. It is a fairly scenic journey so I wouldn't mind doing the mainline again if that's the easiest option.

nwales58 said:

Anyone know the likely loadings Ljubljana <> Zagreb by season (I last used it in the mid-1990s so irrelevant now)? I might go that way in April or early May.

I assume you've looked at Vagonweb and are concerned because there are only 2 seated coaches on EN415/40465. EC211 is 5 as far as Zagreb, EC213 only 3.

Maybe demand for rail really is that small. Flixbus are much more frequent, 15+ per day, about the same journey time.

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My guess would be that demand at that time of day on a Saturday would be small. Almost certainly seats will be available to walk up passengers.

The route through the Sava Valley is spectacular and astonishingly under promoted.

nwales58 said:

Anyone know the likely loadings Ljubljana <> Zagreb by season (I last used it in the mid-1990s so irrelevant now)? I might go that way in April or early May.

I assume you've looked at Vagonweb and are concerned because there are only 2 seated coaches on EN415/40465. EC211 is 5 as far as Zagreb, EC213 only 3.

Maybe demand for rail really is that small. Flixbus are much more frequent, 15+ per day, about the same journey time.

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When I used it a few years ago, there may have been 20 or so onboard, mainly young students. Definitely room to spread out! In my experience of the ex-Yugoslavian countries in that part of the world the locals think taking a train is a sign of failure indicating someone cannot afford a nice shiney car. It's an ex-communist thing.

Also, take a service during daylight hours if you can as the scenery is spectacular on the Slovene side of the border.

FenMan said:

When I used it a few years ago, there may have been 20 or so onboard, mainly young students. Definitely room to spread out! In my experience of the ex-Yugoslavian countries in that part of the world the locals think taking a train is a sign of failure indicating someone cannot afford a nice shiney car. It's an ex-communist thing.

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Most definitely true in Slovenia and around Zagreb. And they keep their cars nice and shiny too. Very important status symbol. You don't see clapped out old bangers anywhere!

FenMan said:

Also, take a service during daylight hours if you can as the scenery is spectacular on the Slovene side of the border.

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As above.

70014IronDuke said:

The route through the Sava Valley is spectacular and astonishingly under promoted.

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Indeed it is, certainly one of my favourites but don’t tell everyone.

I had an Interrail pass last year, the afternoon train from Ljubljana to Zagreb was relatively empty, but the night train from Zagreb in the opposite direction was busy in the seated section. I had no reservations (only going to Ljubljana), got a seat, but some stood for the first few stops. There was a rumour the previous train was cancelled but no one could say for certain.

I took the route last year (in reverse) and turned up at Zagreb ticket office and bought a single ticket for €8. I'm fairly confident you can turn up on the day and get a seat, it's not too busy, but you also have FlixBus as a backup option so it's a very low risk gamble.

As a side note, I've also used Interrail a few times where it was impossible to get a reservation (for various reasons) and train staff have been fine with it. It comes down to the attitude test, I suppose.

I contacted Slovenian Railways by email and they confirmed that no reservation is required for use of the Euronight seated portion during the daytime.

Still a bit wary about the seating situation but I'll see how busy the train is and make a judgment on that basis!

Watershed said:

I contacted Slovenian Railways by email and they confirmed that no reservation is required for use of the Euronight seated portion during the daytime.

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I've used that train a few years ago and there's absolutely no problem. The PDF timetable of Slovenian railways says reservation is possible, so it's not mandatory.
The DB planner doesn't mention mandatory reservations either, so I'm not sure where the rail planner app gets this from (but its information can't be trusted anyway).

rvdborgt said:

I've used that train a few years ago and there's absolutely no problem. The PDF timetable of Slovenian railways says reservation is possible, so it's not mandatory.
The DB planner doesn't mention mandatory reservations either, so I'm not sure where the rail planner app gets this from (but its information can't be trusted anyway).

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The PDF does say "EuroNight vlak, plačilo EN dodatka", which I believe means a supplement is payable. No idea how that supplement is supposed to be paid but I suppose it will all become clear in due course.

Things were considerably simpler when I did this journey on a Eurocity train!

An option I would not have thought of: OeBB Scotty suggests Dobova then walk to Harmica. Both services are roughly hourly for most of the day which is far better than I had imagined. As long as you're rucsac only and happy to walk a couple of miles across the border. Maybe time for a 'connecting Europe' grant to re-connect the local services.

Watershed said:

The PDF does say "EuroNight vlak, plačilo EN dodatka", which I believe means a supplement is payable. No idea how that supplement is supposed to be paid but I suppose it will all become clear in due course.

Things were considerably simpler when I did this journey on a Eurocity train!

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Standard IC supplement for that part of the world - included if you buy a ticket and not needed on interrails, coupons etc