Operator: HZPP
Headcode: 523
Route: ZAG-SPU
Class: 1st Class
Seat: C1 S35
Date: Monday 8th January 2024
After just a few hours exploring the Croatian capital, Zagreb (read about that here) I was back at Zagreb Glavni kolodvor (main station) ready to catch the final train of Snoozing to Split. This journey would take me across the majority of Croatia from the capital in the north to the coastal city of Split in the south. HZPP (Croatian Railways) operates just a couple of trains on this route each day, with my departure named the ‘Marjan’.
Zagreb’s main station is quite sprawling, although can be quite confusing to travellers as departing trains have both the platform and track displayed against them on the departure board. This is because unlike in the UK where island platforms get a different number for each side, Zagreb’s island have a single number. As such your train could be departing from platform 3, track 5 and so the departure board would show both 3 and 5. The left hand number under ‘Peron’ is the platform and the right hand number is the track.
To further confuse things, whilst the five tracks on through platforms are numbered sequentially 1-5, the three dead-end platforms (4, 5 & 6) also all have a ‘track 1’. After managing to figure all this out (although ‘The Man in Seat 61’ does mention this in his Zagreb station guide here), I established that my train was departing from the dead-end platform 5, and headed along the station building to this platform at the western end of the station.
Having had a look at the printed timetables on display in the station, I’d established that usually this departure to Split uses the unit from the inbound arrival from Split, a service which was running 29 minutes late and now expected after our departure time. Another pair of units were already stabled in platform 5 and whether these were supposed to combine with the inbound unit, I’m not sure, but we were able to board these units and depart on time despite the delay to the inbound service.
The units that ended up forming our service were a pair of HŽ 7123 Bombardier RegioSwinger tilting diesel multiple units that were built for HZPP in 2004. HZPP have six of these units that operate solely on the Zagreb to Split route and its winding nature requires services to have tilting capabilities. Unfortunately, these units provide limited capacity and during the summer months trains are often overcrowded. Each unit is formed of two coaches, with first class split into two small cabins either side of the external doors behind one of the cabs.
The other disadvantage to these units is that they’re just not that comfortable, especially considering the length of the journey from Zagreb to Split. The seating in first class is just groups of four around tables, with the knee room of the window seats taken up by a bin (a common issue on European trains). There’s also no modern additions like power sockets or WiFi and whilst there were reading lights above the seats, those over my bay didn’t work.
Departing on time at 1518, the train departed to the west, initially heading back along the section of line over which I had arrived in Zagreb earlier that day. Not long after leaving the station, a triangle of track saw us diverge from this route and start heading in a general south-westerly direction, before being held at Hrvatski Leskovac where we waited for the late running inbound service to leave a single line section.
My first experience of the ‘catering’ onboard the train came just before the first stop at Karlovac, where the conductor came into first class with a silver tray of hot water, tea bags and instant coffee. I don’t know whether the offering is made in 2nd class, but even in 1st this limited ‘catering’ isn’t included and my Nescafé 3in1 sachet cost €1.33. Later in the journey there was a similar offering of biscuits and prepacked snacks, but I decided not to bother, partly due to the quality of the offering and partly due to a lack of cash.
By the time we reached Plaški, we seemed to be around 15 minutes late compared to the only timings I was able to find online for the intermediate stations. With this trip also taking place at the start of January it had also gotten dark quite early and so other than the limited smattering of light around stations, my views were limited. The next stop at Ličko Lešće appeared to be in the middle of nowhere, serving just a small village which was barely seen in the dark.
The next couple of stations were slightly more major, firstly Knin, a junction station with a large freight yard, where a HŽ 7122 diesel railcar was waiting to allow connections between the mainline service and Šibenik. Researching for this blog, I discovered that the line departing Knin to the north-east is actually the fastest route to Zagreb and was in the process of being electrified before the Balkans conflict closed the route and destroyed the electrification as the line crosses the Serbian/Bosnian border multiple times.
I assume the railcar followed us for a while after our departure from Knin as the Šibenik does not diverge from the Split line until the next station, Perković. However, with that service behind us, the stop was uneventful and we continued on our way. Just before arriving at Kaštel Stari the line twists and turns so that it runs on the hills above Split, meaning I could look down and see the lights along the coastline, signalling the end of this journey was in sight.
At some point between me planning the trip and taking this train, the schedule had seemingly changed, with the train arriving in at 2151, on time but around 15 minutes later than I had written on my plan. I probably missed this change when booking, as I think my plan went off the 2023 timetable and not the 2024 one, but the slightly later arrival did result in me having to message my hotel to request a late check-in. Not the end of the world, but definitely something to be aware of if travelling just after the timetable change in December.
As I alighted onto one of the rather unloved platforms of Split’s main railway station, I was finally able to stretch out after a six and half hour journey that I can only summarise as “as comfortable as travelling from London to Aberdeen on an EMR class 158”. For a journey of the length that it is, between Croatia’s two largest cities, the offering provided by HZPP is poor and genuinely surprises me given the popularity of the route during the tourist season. What surprised me even more was that just a few minutes after my train had arrived, the units departed again for a lengthy overnight journey back to Zagreb!
In summary, this journey with HZPP was unfortunately slow, uncomfortable, and not particularly enjoyable. If I’d been travelling later in the year with lighter evenings, I’m sure a view out of the window would have helped, but this really did drag. However it did take me to a wonderful city, which you’ll be able to read about next week and, supposedly, during the summer there is also a sleeper train between Budapest, Zagreb and Split three times a week, which I reckon would be an enjoyable journey!
Lounge 0*
Seat/Facilities 2*
Food 1*
Service 3*
Punctuality 5*
Overall Rating 11/25 (read about my rating system here!)
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