Slovenske železnice
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Slovenske železnice (SŽ) (Slovenian Railways) is the state railway of Slovenia, created in 1991 from the Ljubljana Division of the former Jugoslovenske železnice -- (JŽ) - Yugoslav Railways -- after the breakup of Yugoslavia.
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[edit] History
Slovenia (then part of Austria) received its first railway connection in 1840s, when the Austrian Empire built a railway connection between its capital, Vienna, and its major commercial port, Trieste. Thus, Celje was connected by railway in 1846, Ljubljana in 1849 and Trieste in 1857. Before World War I, numerous other railways were established, but between the wars, few lines were built. During World War II, many lines were destroyed with very few being built afterwards, the only exception being the line to Koper, built in 1976.
[edit] System
Slovenian Railways operates 1,229 km of standard gauge tracks, 331 km as double track, and reaches all regions of the country. It is remarkably well connected to all surrounding countries reflecting the fact that Slovenia used to be part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and later of Yugoslavia.
Electrification is provided by a 3KV DC system and covers about 503 km. The remainder of the former Yugoslavian railroads that have been electrified operate with 25 KV AC system, thus trains to Zagreb switch engines at Dobova until dual system engines will be available.
[edit] Crossroad of Pan-European corridors
Ljubljana is at the heart of the SŽ system. Here, the Pan-European corridors V and X intersect. These transportation corridors are being established to tie larger segments of Europe economically together: Corridor V links Venice-Trieste/Koper-Ljubljana-Maribor-Budapest-Kiev, while Corridor X connects Salzburg-Ljubljana-Zagreb-Belgrade-Thessalonica. The freight system to Koper, a modern and growing port east of Trieste, represents the shortest connection to the Mediterranian for a large portion of the hinterland of Central and Eastern Europe.
[edit] Passenger trains
Passenger trains of the SŽ use InterCity and EuroCity as well as regional and local trains. The InterCity Slovenia (ICS) connects Koper, Ljubljana and Maribor.
A noted train of the SŽ is the Casanova linking Ljubljana to Venice in a 4-hour ride.
