About this journey

Čakovec station sits at the junction of two lines: the M501, which stretches southwest toward Kotoriba, and the L101, which branches northward through Mursko Središće and across the Croatian–Slovenian border to Lendava — the route this journey follows. The corridor has deep roots: the Čakovec–Kotoriba section opened on 24 April 1860 as part of a line built to connect Budapest to the Vienna–Trieste railway, and it was the first railroad constructed in present-day Croatia.

The line carries the marks of both conflict and renewal. In 1941 the bridge over the River Mura was blown up during World War II, though a replacement was built before the war ended. More recently, a reconstruction programme running from 2020 to 2024 overhauled the entire Čakovec–Kotoriba section — renewing the rail structure, platforms, culverts, and grade crossings — and raised the maximum permitted operating speed to 100 km/h. North of the Croatian border, the Slovenian section into Lendava spans 5.216 kilometres of single-tracked, non-electrified track, built in 1889 as part of the Zalaegerszeg–Čakovec railway. The journey thus moves from a modernised Croatian main corridor onto a quiet cross-border branch, arriving at Lendava station in Slovenia.