About this journey

Dobova station serves as Slovenia's international railway border crossing with Croatia, and it is here that the Dobova–Ljubljana Railway begins its 114.7-kilometre double-tracked course northwest through the country. The line carries a notable engineering boundary at this very station: electrification shifts from 25 kV AC on the Croatian side to 3 kV DC for the Slovenian network. That same infrastructure formed part of Pan-European Corridor X, and from 1919 to 1977 the Orient Express passed through on its run linking western Europe with the Balkans.

For much of its course the railway follows the Sava Valley, and the segment to Zidani Most keeps the river close. Zidani Most station sits near the confluence of the Sava and Savinja Rivers, a position that has made it one of Slovenia's most significant railway junctions: most non-direct services linking eastern Slovenia with Ljubljana connect here before continuing west. The ride from a busy border crossing to this quiet river junction traces a line that once carried one of Europe's most celebrated express trains.