June 18
In 1849 the first locomotive arrived in Ljubljana on the first test drive from Celje as part of the Southern Route (Vienna –Triest) of the Austrian Empire. The train needed four and a half hours to get from Celje to Ljubljana, although the travel time was soon shortened to three hours without the necessary stops and check-ups that were needed on the first run.
Ljubljana wasn't the first Slovenian city to see a train, as the Graz–Celje section was built several years before that. At first the route was to miss then smaller town of Maribor and go through then much more important town of Ptuj, but then the second route through Maribor was decided, which marked the beginning of the town’s swift development on one hand and the stagnation of Ptuj on the other. Celje and Maribor hence saw their first locomotive on its test run in May 1846, and in September same year regular passenger traffic was established in both cities.
Celje train station 1846
Maribor train station 1847
Work on the Celje–Ljubljana route went on in the years 1845-46, with various technically demanding sections, including the sharpest curve at the entire Vienna–Triest (Dunaj–Trst) route at Zidani most (189 m radius).
Moreover, a revolution broke out in March 1848, further delaying the construction.
Ljubljana train station, 1849
The Ljubljana train station was finished in April of 1848, and basically remains the same today, except for the clock tower which collapsed during the 1895 earthquake and was rebuilt only 100 years later in 1995, when the whole building was renovated.
The city government of Ljubljana got into a constant conflict with the Southern Railway Company, who took ownership of the station in 1863, claiming that the company refused to renovate the station because the city was Slovenian.
The station, including the bus station, has been planned to be renovated for several decades, with the latest plans promising that work will start next year.
Photo: ZaMestopoDveh
