This is part of the operator's plan to overhaul the passenger services in the country, which are marred by outdated trains, many of which do not even have AC, and low travel speeds.

In total, the price tag of all 52 trains commissioned from Stadler has reached EUR 320 million, VAT excluded.

"With them, we will be able to provide services similar to those in the most developed countries in the world," Slovenske Železnice CEO Dušan Mes said.

The orders include single-deck passenger trains, double-deck passenger trains and diesel trains.

Earlier this month, Mes told the newspaper Dnevnik that trains are to be delivered in pair every month and that the last one would arrive in Slovenia by the end of 2021.

Diesel trains are the first to be delivered and will most likely be dispatched on the Kočevje railway, which is currently used only for cargo transport. Electric trains will come later on and will be used on a number of routes, he told the paper.