Left Hand Running in Austria/Slovenia

[LNW-GW Joint]

I was able to do a run through Austria/Slovenia this week, using the old Südbahn from Bruck an der Mur through Graz and Maribor to Ljubljana and on to the denouement at Villa Opicina where the modern railway gives up on passengers for the last lap to Trieste.
What surprised me was that it was left hand running throughout.
Reading up on Wiki, I find that the northern part of the line from Vienna to the northern side of the Semmering Pass has now been converted to right-hand running, but the rest remains left.

There is about 40km of single track across the Austrian/Slovenian border which used to be double and is due to be redoubled, though there are several bridges to replace.
A new high-speed line is also under construction Graz-Klagenfurt which will turn the route via Graz into the main Vienna-Carinthia line, bypassing the slow route via Leoben and St Veit.

The Südbahn seems to be a very busy freight route, to/from the Adriatic ports at Trieste and Koper.
I saw ÖBB Taurus locos on freight trains throughout the route, as well as SŽ versions.
Hopefully SŽ and Trenitalia will resume through passenger trains to somewhere useful in Italy one day.
For now it's a hoof across Villa Opicina from a local SŽ EMU to take the museum-piece tram #2 down to Trieste.
The route in Slovenia is fairly slow, typically 100km/h with a few spurts to 160km/h on the straight bits, and pretty slow in the long, winding river valleys and through the hills.
There are several points where old Yugoslav steam engines are displayed at the lineside - eg at Zidani Most, Postojna, and Divača.

Further west in Austria, I travelled west-east through the double track Arlberg tunnel, and we were on the left hand track throughout.
But with reversible signalling everywhere it is not obvious what the standard running arrangements are.
This route is odd as the long ramps are still slow single track, but the 10.6km central tunnel is fast and double!
It was also a chance to sample the new Unterinntalbahn route with its long high-speed tunnels (32km out of 40km in total) near Jenbach.
And all viewed from an SBB Panorama car Innsbruck-Kitzbühel-Schladming-Graz - pretty much rail perfection.

 

[Polarbear]

I also recently visited Austria and the left hand running in the South East threw me as well. It was only fairly recently that the northern part of the Sudbahn was converted to right hand running - which must have been a real pain to signal!

I also enjoyed the comfort of the SBB observation car on the complete run from Zurich to Graz. Almost 12 hours in 1st class watching almost unbroken scenery from start to finish (ok, there are a few tunnels but they go with the territory). For a very reasonable £40 on an advance purchase, it was one of the best runs I've experienced & can heartily recommend it.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I also recently visited Austria and the left hand running in the South East threw me as well. It was only fairly recently that the northern part of the Sudbahn was converted to right hand running - which must have been a real pain to signal!

I also enjoyed the comfort of the SBB observation car on the complete run from Zurich to Graz. Almost 12 hours in 1st class watching almost unbroken scenery from start to finish (ok, there are a few tunnels but they go with the territory). For a very reasonable £40 on an advance purchase, it was one of the best runs I've experienced & can heartily recommend it.

Yes I did a long loop through the alps over 4 days, starting Geneva-Bern-Zürich on SBB, Railjet to Feldkirch (overnight), then Railjet to Innsbruck, where I picked up the EC to Graz.
Then next day on to Ljubljana (overnight), then Trieste/Venice to fly back.
I booked all this, with a break in Innsbruck, before realising the Zürich-Graz had a panorama car, and was even more surprised when it turned out to be an SBB version, just like their FC double deck coaches and very comfortable.
I doubt there were more than 10 people in it at any time, so I could pick my side for views/photos.
There are two sets, but I didn't see what was on the reverse set when we passed half way. Double-headed Taurus locos on the central section too.
A wonderful route through the long mountain valleys, perfect weather too.
The rivers were massive with snowmelt and the recent storms.
It cost me €39 First Class Geneva-Feldkirch, and €34 Feldkirch-Graz (both ÖBB Sparschiene), some of the best value fares going.
Plus goulash soup and a Budvar from the RC, of course.

With all the debate about OHLE design, I was interested in how the Austrians were installing new wiring.
They go in for square-section steel twin track cantilever beams, tied to very tall masts carrying the AT wires.
It almost looks like headspan wiring, but in fact it's pairs of these twin-track cantilevers.
Not pretty exactly, but a very different feel compared to our Series 1/2.
It looks quite angular, but the size of steel beams is quite slim.
Many of the masts are concrete, not steel, and all the foundations are concrete. Not a metal pile to be seen anywhere.
They must have different engineering preferences to us.

I also passed one point where they were busy with a major project rebuilding a retaining wall on one track, with concrete mixers and cranes working on the adjacent track, while we passed by at line speed on the working track with live OHLE.
Oh and we got past using reversible signalling...

 

[Panceltic]

The only right hand running section in Slovenia is between Zidani Most and Dobova. Not that it matters much because it's the only other double-track railway we have.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

One observation of Slovenian trains: they all seem to be heavily graffiti-ed
The modern EMUs are nice inside, but they look awful from the outside.
But very friendly and everybody keen to speak English.
I thought Ljubljana station was a bit odd, with the ticket office being a very long way from the underpass to the platforms.

 

[Panceltic]

You're right. Graffiti everywhere. They don't even bother to clean them anymore because new 'art' will appear overnight. Inside of trains is OK, certainly a lot better than how it used to be.

The station in Ljubljana is indeed odd! There were plans to make a new passenger building ages ago, nothing came of it so the old building continues to be used. There is another small ticket office at the far end of the underpass, but its opening time seems to be very limited and they can't do international ticekts I think.

 

[EAD]

Quite a messy and complex history in Austria depending on who built the line, etc. Even in the West the Inntal was until the early 90s left-hand running, with trains switching to right-hand running from memory in Wörgl and Innsbruck. I remember being shocked when heading back to Jenbach after the change as I was so used ot left-hand running there, but it made sense given the importance of German traffic and the Westbahn. The East of Austria has been progressively moving over to right-hand running since a big push was introduced in 2012.

Of course the original left-hand running can be squarely laid at the UK's door and of course lives on across a swathe of Europe!

 

[Groningen]

The only left side running in the Netherlands is from Blauwkapel to Utrecht Centraal for the IC going to and from Amersfoort. Say for about 4 to 5 kilometers. But if the other line is blocked for what reason than we also can go left the whole way.