About this journey

Oštarije station sits at a significant railway junction in the Croatian highlands, where the M202 line toward Zagreb parts ways with the M604 Lika railway, a 220 km single-track, un-electrified line that continues south toward Split. The M202 corridor being followed here has its roots in the opening of the continuous railway line between Budapest and Rijeka in 1873, a development that drove the growth of rail traffic converging on Zagreb and ultimately shaped the city's grand terminus.

The line was electrified as far as Ogulin, a boundary that marks the divide between Zagreb's modernised railway infrastructure and the diesel-only hinterland beyond — long-distance trains on the branching Lika route change traction at that point. The journey ends at Zagreb Glavni kolodvor, inaugurated on 18 August 1892 and designed by Hungarian MÁV architect Ferenc Pfaff. Its reception building stretches 186.5 m and was built in Neoclassical style, now a protected cultural monument of Croatia. The first train to depart the station after its inauguration left for Rijeka — the same corridor this journey travels, now in reverse. By 2011, some 82,000 passengers were passing through the station daily, reflecting its role as Croatia's principal railway hub and a gateway for international services across central Europe.