Rail freight connection between Slovenia and Hungary suspended following flood damage

Rail freight connection between Slovenia and Hungary suspended following flood damage

trans.info — 2023-08-08

Land transportation

Maersk has provided an update regarding the rail freight situation in Slovenia following the devastating floods that have cost lives and damaged infrastructure in the country.

In its update, the Danish shipping giant has confirmed that the railway connection between Slovenia and Hungary is currently suspended due to the flooding in Slovenia.

“Due to the extraordinary weather conditions, the transports on some routes were completely interrupted, there were unexpected closures of tracks and lines and slow runs were introduced to ensure the safety of transport. The teams of the operator of the public railway infrastructure are working to eliminate the consequences of floods in the shortest possible time, but due to the extremely large amount of damage and the inaccessibility of the railway lines via roads (destroyed roads, collapsed bridges), it will take longer time to repair the damage in some sections,” says Maersk.

According to Maersk, the disruption to services is as follows:

• The section between Litija and Sava on the Zidani most-Ljubljana line remains closed due to water on the line. After the water receides, a more extensive rehabilitation of the track is required. The interruption of traffic on this section is estimated until 09.08.2023.
• Interruption of transports due to the expected closure of the section Maribor–Pesnica–Šentilj;
• Impeded transports on the Ljubljana Vižmarje-Jesenice section due to speed restrictions after the provisional elimination of the consequences of the storm;
• Interruption of transports on the Celje–Velenje line;
• Interruption of transports on the Jesenice–Nova Gorica line on the Most naSoči–Jesenice section;
• Interruption of transports on the Maribor–Prevalje line on the Ruše–Pliberk section. Due to the extent of the damage to the infrastructure, the damage repair is planned to take a longer time.

The Ljubljana – Jesenice railway line has now been reopened, but line capacity is limited, says Maersk.

The company adds that the only usable rail connection at the moment is through Jesenice (SI/AT) border station, where the capacity of the rail network is currently overloaded.

“Planned departures from Koper, Dunajská Streda and Budapest are stopped from 04.08.2023, therefore several trains could not depart over the weekend which will cause possible rail cancellation. Due to this reason please expect further delays in the rail schedule both import and export directions from/ to Koper,” warns Maersk.

Further details and updates can be found on the Maersk website.