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Hungary to Zagreb to Split – making the connection

  • 11 April 2024
  • 6 replies
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Hello Interrailers!

I am looking at traveling from Lake Balaton (HU) down to Split on Friday June 7th.

(There was an excellent connection via Celje in Slovenia but ÖBB has suddenly cut the Celje-Split service down to Wednesdays only, from 3 times a week).

Now, we can join up with the train from Budapest [IC 204] which arrives in Zagreb Glavny at 21:59.

The night train from Zagreb Glavny to Split [NT 1821] leaves 31 minutes later, at 22:30.

According to Zugfinder, the IC 204 has been on time every day for the last month.

Whaddya reckon? Has anyone attempted that connection? Successfuly or unsuccessfully?

If we miss it, we’re good for finding a place to sleep at almost eleven at night… and leaving either at 7 am (yuk) or in the arvo and hitting Split late in the evening. We’ll be stopping in Zag anyway on the way back up, so we can happily give Zagreb by night a miss.

Chance it?

Love to hear if anyone has experience of this, good or bad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Best answer by ralderton 11 April 2024, 19:42

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6 replies

ralderton
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Seems a reasonable connection to me.

You’ve clearly got a plan for what to do if you miss it, which is the most important thing.

i would book the connection, with the same backup plan a as you. 

R
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Userlevel 7
Badge +9

If we miss it, we’re good for finding a place to sleep at almost eleven at night…

Croatian railways will then have to find accommodation for you. Not sure how that works in practice though.

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
Hektor
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(There was an excellent connection via Celje in Slovenia but ÖBB has suddenly cut the Celje-Split service down to Wednesdays only, from 3 times a week).

It's no ÖBB train, it's one from Slovakia (ZSSK), that is not cut down to Wednesdays only, it has just no confirmed timetable for the departure dates for June 7th and June 9th departures - that's why it's not shown for that date.

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Interesting answers from all, many thanks.

Rvdborgt: I would love it if Croatian railways were prepared to put us up for the night - but as you say, one can only wonder how that might work! Do they take responsibility for the IC 204 from Budapest to Zagreb arriving on time? Wouldn’t they just say we should have arrived by the morning train instead? There’s one sure way to find out… !

Hektor: You’re right. ZSSK themselves sent me the timetable (with a link to ÖBB for reservations) and it was there sure enough (for June 7th)… and then the next day it wasn’t. Which makes me more than a bit cagey, as our IR trip starts with Paris-Berlin on ÖBB’s NightJet on Thursday 16th May —all booked up— but now (i read in the press) that train only departs on Saturdays, instead of 3 times a week. And sure enough, it’s no longer listed. I contacted ÖBB 3 days ago. Still no reply. But as you say, the NT 1821 is a Slovak train, so whether ÖBB lists it or not shouldn’t have any bearing.

I miss the big red Thomas Cook Railway Timetable of Europe of 30 years ago, and just playing it all by ear from one stop to the next. Thirty years down the track and a wife in tow, things are so much more complicated…

 

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Update (@Hektor in particular): ZSSK have stopped displaying the NT1821 on their own site now except on Wednesdays… so something’s up. This runs contrary to what they told me themselves in a very kind email they sent just 4 days ago. It was listed for Friday June 7th four days ago and now it isn’t. Pfff.

B

edit : not NT 1821 from Bratislava to Split (via Cilje) but EN 1153

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