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Postojna Cave has recently modernised its fleet of cave trains – 31 years after the purchase of the old ones – and is now the proud owner of six new trains. Our legendary cave trains look the same as the old ones, but are well on the way towards complete sustainability. At a press conference, which attracted a lot of interest, the Chairman of Postojna Cave presented our brand new trains, as well as the company's recent record-breaking results. The journalists also had an exclusive opportunity to take a look behind the scenes and see the train depot.

For the first time in the history of Postojna Cave, we have made a one-time investment in replacing our entire fleet with new, more powerful trains, which are in line with our sustainable vision for tourism. However, despite their special technological innovations, the trains have retained their legendary appearance, which was a particular challenge when it comes to developing new trains. Much like the historic San Francisco cable trams have come to symbolise the city and are synonymous with cable tram rides around the world, our trains are a one-of-a-kind symbol of the cave and are synonymous with the incredible experiences of the underground world. The yellow-and-red trains that run on Postojna Cave's railway built 147 years ago are now legendary. "The inside of our trains boasts a lot of innovations and technological improvements, which, I'm sure, both our visitors and the cave will be grateful for," said the Postojna Cave Chairman, Marjan Batagelj.

TRAINS AS A HERALD OF WHAT IS TO COME

The development of our cave infrastructure and trains has always been a herald of what is to come as far as the future of cave tourism is concerned. This is the case when it comes to our fleet too, as in fact our new trains affirm commitment to sustainable and environment-friendly tourism, which is our main focus and guiding principle. "The reason we decided to invest in new trains was not because the previous ones had been in bad repair and no longer fit for use, but to ensure the sustainability, care for the environment and the safety of both our visitors and the train drivers," pointed out Marjan Batagelj during a tour of the Postojna Cave train depot, which houses a railway workshop and charging stations for our trains. There are special conditions inside the cave and our trains have special purpose; hence, train-related improvements and developments usually take place right here in our own workshops, and most of the suggestions and ideas for improvements are contributed by our drivers and mechanical engineers. Behind the traditional appearance of our new trains is the knowledge gained over decades and the invaluable cave-related know-how.

SIX NEW TRAINS

Each of the six new locomotives pulls 15 carriages and thus each train has the capacity for up to 116 visitors. The new trains, which can travel at a maximum speed of 10 km/h, are quieter and therefore have a significantly lesser impact on the cave environment and the cave-dwelling animals. While the old trains were still in use, train drivers had to spread fine gravel on the tracks to improve the friction while driving, now with the latest improvements and the new trains, this unnecessary pollution of the cave caused by gravel and consequently dust has been done away with. Also, the batteries in the new trains are almost twice as powerful as the old ones, a single charging session providing sufficient motive power for up to 30 train rides. The new trains are more comfortable and safer for visitors, as the carriages have restraints that prevent passengers from standing up. Video surveillance of the entire train set, as well as enclosed and heated driver's compartment in each train also provide safety and comfort for our drivers. Innovation and progress have always been strived for in Postojna Cave, which is confirmed by the fact that we have had two railway tracks since 1964. When it comes to the train appearance, however, we are quite conservative. The trains' legendary red-yellow exterior was introduced gradually in the 1970s and will stay unchanged in the future.

The first visitor to travel on a Postojna Cave train was the Dalambur Maharaja in 1924. Today, however, anyone is welcome to tour the cave on board our trains.

As we would like to mark this special occasion and celebrate our one-of-a-kind acquisitions together with our visitors, we are currently offering a special 50% family discount on cave tours, which include a ride on our new trains, as well as on tickets to all other Postojna Cave Park attractions. The discount is available until 24 November. More information can be found here.

You can find out more about the historical development of Postojna Cave's unique cave railway at a special exhibition, which is on view at the Postojna Cave Park. Those of you who would like to learn more about the history and the incredible moments during the arrival of the new trains are welcome to watch the videos in the links.

THE RECORD-BREAKING YEAR 2019

Marjan Batagelj, the Chairman of Postojna Cave, also presented the company's record-breaking business results in the year that's coming to an end. After the grand opening of Vila Planinka, a boutique hotel in Jezersko, which has set a new benchmark for Slovenian tourism, we are continuing a series of investments in the cave and the Postojna Cave Park with an investment in the amount of almost 3-million Euros in the renovation of our fleet of trains. In recent years, we have made investments in the Expo Cave Karst, a new boarding and exit platform, renovation of the Vivarium, restoration of all the tracks, and have also focused on supporting research & development, as well as the cave laboratory inhabited by our olms (nicknamed “baby dragons”).We have also been busy working on the general appearance of the Postojna Cave Park and its accommodation facility – the renovated Hotel Jama. In 2020, we will complete an investment worth four million in the hotel's B Section with 80 extra rooms and a large conference hall. This will increase Hotel's Jama's total capacity to 700 indoor and 100 outdoor seats. In 2020, we will embark on one of the most challenging renovation ventures, which will be phased over four years: renovation of the area in front of the cave. This will round off the first ten years of our work at Postojna Cave, during which we renovated practically everything that was in need of modernisation.