Promet in infrastruktura

Transport of people and freight is a crucial backbone for most economic activities and social inclusiveness. However, while all sectors significantly reduced CO² emissions between 1990 and 2022, emissions related to transport have increased a staggering 78%. Making transport for both people and goods within and through Slovenia more sustainable while ensuring inclusive mobility is therefore a core goal for Volt. 

We aim to make public transport the preferred method of transport for individuals and companies. We are aware that due to the geography of Slovenia, with many small villages in hilly or mountainous terrain, it is difficult to provide attractive, frequent and fast public transport everywhere. Private transport, mostly by car, will therefore retain an important role in the overall mobility patterns. However, more sustainable choices must be supported to relieve our road system and environment from the burden of individual and freight transport and we have to better take into account externalities that also include noise pollution, congestion and adverse health effects.

Volt proposes the following for the future public transport infrastructure in Slovenia:

Public transport

• Create the infrastructure and incentives to move half of the 900.000 daily car commuters to public transport by subsidising employers to pay for public transport (up to 1.5x travel time is eligible, much less than 60€/month, 720€/year for car travel, about 15M€ additional income for bus/rail companies per month).

Harmonised transport schedule

• Introduce clock-face public transport schedules across the country with at least one train (bus) at the same minute every (second) hour following Switzerland, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.

• Offer at least 1 train per hour (always at the same minute) on all main lines. Regional routes may be reduced to 1 train every 2 hours in the middle of the day/evenings/weekends/holidays.

• Offer at least 1 fast train (intercity/pendolino) per hour between Ljubljana, Celje and Maribor, every 30 minutes at peak times and at least 1 train every 30 minutes on suburban lines around Ljubljana (to Kamnik, Litija; Grosuplje, Kranj).

• Coordinate arrival and departure times with short transfer windows between trains, local and regional bus lines at main transfer points (Ljubljana, Zidani Most, Celje, Pragersko, Maribor, Jesenice, Pivka, Divača, Sežana, Trebnje, Sevnica).

• Introduce coordinated motorway intercity bus lines on connections the rail network cannot offer competitive travel times (Postojna - Ajdovščina - Nova Gorica - Gorizia, Maribor - Murska Sobota) and add the connections to the international train timetable database, so they can be found and booked by applications alongside trains.

Rail network

• Invest into rail infrastructure to reduce journey times and offer a seamless integrated timetable so Ljubljana-Celje, Celje-Maribor, Ljubljana-Jesenice and Ljubljana-Postojna can be done in less than 45 minutes.

• Revise or extend the plans for the Emonika Ljubljana railway station to allow routing of city bus lines with a stop connected to the railway station platforms for smooth integration and a few minutes walk to transfer.

• Create double-track capacities where needed (single track may be sufficient) for allowing 1 train per 15 minutes in peak hours on Ljubljana-Kamnik, Ljubljana-Grosuplje and Ljubljana-Kranj lines.

Crossborder connections

Improve cross-border travel by offering at least 1 train every 2 hours for the following connections:

• Ljubljana - Kranj - Jesenice - Villach (onwards to Salzburg and Munich)

• Ljubljana - Zidani Most - Krško - Zagreb (onwards to Slavonski Brod, Beograd)

• Ljubljana - Celje - Maribor - Leibnitz - Graz (onwards to Vienna)

• Ljubljana - Postojna - Villa Opicina - Trieste Airport (onwards to Udine, Venice)

Improve regional cross-border travel by offering at least 1 train every 2 hours for the following connections:

• Maribor – Dravograd – Bleiburg

• Sežana – Villa Opicina – Trieste Centrale

• Postojna – Ilirska Bistrica – Rijeka

• Metlika – Karlovac 

• Rogaška Slatina – Krapina

• Ormož – Čakovec – Mursko Središće – Lendava 

• Hodoš – Zalaegerszeg

• Jesenice – Villach (1 train per hour)

• Maribor – Spielfeld-Strass (1 train per hour)

• Nova Gorica – Gorizia Centrale (1 direct bus transfer per hour)

• Dobova – Zaprešić – Zagreb (1 train per hour, per 30 minutes during peak hours)

Private transport

• Replace the current vignette system for highway payment with an electronic pay-per-kilometre system (already in use for freight trucks, DarsGo). The price per kilometre depends on the weight of the vehicle and its emission class.

• Offer monthly/yearly discount tickets for specific sections of the highway fo daily commuters without access to convenient public transport connection. 

• Introduce dynamic congestion pricing, with a higher price per kilometre during peak hours on congested sections of highways and an area surcharge around the centre of Ljubjana.

Freight transport

• Set up ‘rolling highway’ train routes to transport road trucks by rail in cooperation with neighbouring member states to offer attractive longer routes such as Salzburg-Zagreb, Metre-Zagreb,  Fernetiči-Budapest or Koper-Vienna.