This case study presents the cross-border public service Maribor-Bleiburg/Pliberk. 

It explores the business model of this service, including its governance arrangements, operational provisions to develop the service and address demand, and its territorial scope. Following this the key obstacles to the service are presented, and solutions to these problems discussed. Before the final section reflects on the lessons learnt from this case study. This study demonstrates the importance of the railway connection between Slovenian Koroška and Austrian Carinthia even though it lacks passengers in the border region. Due to the efforts of local actors in the last decade, sentiment has changed from thoughts of closing the line to general support and the will to upgrade and develop the connection. 

This case study report is part of a series of 31 case studies developed in the framework of the study ‘Providing public transport in cross-border regions – Mapping of existing services and legal obstacles’, completed by Spatial Foresight in cooperation with TCP international, TRT trasporti e territorio and EureConsult for the European Commission’s DG REGIO.