Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) has warned that EuroNight services between Zurich HB and Zagreb will be suspended for almost three weeks because of track upgrades in Slovenia. According to the update published on 24 September, the westbound Zagreb–Zurich train is cancelled from the evening of 24 September until 13 October, while the eastbound Zurich–Zagreb departure is axed from 25 September to 14 October. The outage forms part of a broader programme to modernise the Pragersko–Hodoš corridor, a key segment of the TEN-T Baltic–Adriatic freight axis. Works include track doubling, ERTMS signalling and platform extensions, all of which require nightly possession of the line. Freight operators will be rerouted via Austria’s Southern Railway, but passenger service options are limited: the only realistic alternative is daytime Railjet links via Vienna with a tight connection to Croatian Railways at Villach. For mobility planners the knock-on effects are substantial. The Zurich–Zagreb sleeper is popular with pharmaceutical and automotive executives commuting between Switzerland’s innovation hubs and supplier plants in northern Croatia; it also feeds connections to Belgrade and Skopje. Travellers whose tickets were issued before 23 September can claim a full refund or rebook, but seat availability on substitute routes is already tight because of autumn tourism flows. SBB says the night train will resume normal operation on 15 October, subject to completion of Slovenian works on schedule. Companies with ongoing projects in Croatia should consider shifting meetings to virtual formats or adding a buffer travel day via Vienna or Munich to minimise productivity loss.
