Bosnia-Herzegovina - General Information: Difference between revisions

From EGTRE
Jump to navigationJump to search
Line 104: Line 104:


==Recent and future changes==
==Recent and future changes==
All passenger trains south of Sarajevo were withdrawn from 5 October 2015, to allow for track renewals.  Trains still appear in the ZFBH timetable, but with a footnote that they do not run until the construction work is complete.  No date is specified for this.
All passenger trains south of Sarajevo were withdrawn from 5 October 2015, to allow for track renewals.  Trains still appear in the ZFBH timetable, but with a footnote saying that they do not run until the construction work is complete.  No date is specified for this.


The daily pair from Doboj - Šamac was withdrawn from an unknown date in late 2014/early 2015.
The daily pair from Doboj - Šamac was withdrawn from an unknown date in late 2014/early 2015.

Revision as of 15:50, 16 June 2016

Country Name

Bosnia-Hercegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina / Босна и Херцеговина).

The country is largely decentralized and comprises two autonomous entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, with a third region, the Brčko District, governed locally. The central government's power is highly limited, as The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is itself complex and consists of 10 cantons.

National Railway System

The Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation each has its own railway company. BHŽJK [Bosansko Hercegovačka Željeznička Javna Korporacija] is the umbrella organisation that co-ordinates the activities of the two railway companies. It has offices in Doboj.

National Railway Operators

  • In the Republika Srpska: Željeznice Republike Srpske ŽRS.
  • In the Muslim-Croat Federation: Željeznice Federacije Bosne i Hercegovine ŽFBH, formerly ŽBH).

The boundary stations between the two entities are as follows:

Line Boundary Stations
Novi Grad - Martin Brod; no passenger service Blatna ŽRS - Otoka Bosanska ŽFBH ŽFBH operates to Novi Grad
Doboj - Sarajevo Rječica ŽRS - Maglaj ŽFBH ŽFBH operates to Doboj
Brčko - Kreka (- Tuzla); no passenger service Brčko ŽRS - Bukovac ŽFBH ŽFBH operates to Brčko (and into Croatia on cross-border trains)
(Tuzla -) Bosanska Poljana - Zvornik Novi; no passenger service Kalesija ŽFBH - Caparde ŽRS ŽFBH operates to Zvornik Novi

Language

Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian according to area.

Currency

Konvertibilna Marka (Convertible Mark), symbol KM. 1 KM was set = 1 Deutsche Mark. Since replacement of the Mark by the euro in 2002, KM use the same fixed exchange rate to the Euro (1.95583) as the Deutsche Mark. Euro notes (not coins) are widely accepted.

UIC code

  • ŽFBH: numeric 50; alpha BIH
  • ŽRS: numeric 44; alpha BIH

Originally, ŽFBH was allocated code 89. When ŽRS was later formed, the ŽFBH code was changed to 50. However, the alpha codes for both systems are apparently BIH.

Timetable

Journey Planner

  • The ŽRS website provides a drop down list of stations, which gives both departures and arrivals at that station.
  • The ŽFBH website provides a drop down list of stations, for which either 'departures' or 'arrivals' can be selected.

Downloadable Timetable

  • A 2014-2015 downloadable timetable for ŽRS has been found and copied onto this site, but the source is not known. No 2015-2016 timetable has been located.
  • ŽFBH. No 2015-2016 timetable has been located.

Printed Timetable

  • ŽRS publishes a timetable in booklet form "Red Voznje" that also includes many ŽFBH services, particularly around the ŽRS/ŽFBH border areas.
  • ŽFBH does not publish a timetable book, but schedules are posted in stations.

Engineering Information

None.

Maps

Printed Maps

  • European Railway Atlas: Scandinavia and Eastern Europe by M.G. Ball (1993) (ISBN 0-7110-2072-4)
  • European Railway Atlas by M.G. Ball (2008 onwards)

Web-based Maps

Infrastructure

Infrastructure Authority

It is believed there is no separate Infrastructure Authority in either Republika Srpska or the Muslim-Croat Federation.

Network Statement

  • ŽFBH in Bosnian only and dated 2009, but it is unlikely much has changed.
  • ZRS: none known

Gauge

Standard.

Electrification

25kV 50Hz.

Rule of the road

Right.

Distances

  • ŽFBH: in the appendices of the Network Statement
  • ZRS: none known

Other Railways

None.

Tourist Lines

None.

Metro

None.

Trams

Sarajevo.

Recent and future changes

All passenger trains south of Sarajevo were withdrawn from 5 October 2015, to allow for track renewals. Trains still appear in the ZFBH timetable, but with a footnote saying that they do not run until the construction work is complete. No date is specified for this.

The daily pair from Doboj - Šamac was withdrawn from an unknown date in late 2014/early 2015.

The international train between Sarajevo and Ploče ceased at the December 2013 timetable change, withdrawing services over the Čapljina border crossing. From 1 December 2012 passenger trains ceased on the Novi Grad - Bihać and Tuzla - Brčko lines. The cross border line from Šamac ŽRS to Slavonski Šamac HŽ also closed and consequently services have ceased from Srpska-Kostajnica (the junction station north of Doboj) to Šamac ŽRS.

A passenger service was introduced on the Brčko - Gunja cross-border route into Croatia in the 2002/2003 timetable but was withdrawn by the end of the 2009/2010 timetable period.

A number of passenger services ceased during the war (1991 onwards): prospects for re-opening are slim though all (except Modriča - Gradačac and Martin Brod - Knin) carry freight traffic:

  • Podlugovi - Vareš
  • Modriča - Gradačac
  • Tuzla - Živinice - Banovići
  • Omarska - Tomašica
  • Bihać - Martin Brod - Knin (Croatia)

A new route from Valjevo via Zvornik (in Serbia) to Tuzla (in Bosnia-Hercegovina) was started before the break-up of Yugoslavia. Completion of the Zvornik to Tuzla section was interrupted by the war in 1991 but has since been largely finished. The line carries no regular traffic but has seen occasional SFOR military traffic. Note that this line is shown wrongly, or not at all, on many maps, and actually runs from Rasputnica [= junction] Donja Borina, just south of Brasina on the line to Zvornik Grad, via a cross-border river bridge to Zvornik Novi (where there is a large works) then on to Caparde and Kalesija before ending at Živinice, which is on a freight line south from Tuzla. The Beograd - Banja Luka service was intended to run this way but runs instead via Šamac (see above), possibly because of the SFOR traffic and poor track condition on the ŽS (former JŽ) line between Ruma and Zvornik. Work on the Valjevo to Zvornik section was stopped - some construction work can be seen at the Valjevo end - but there are plans of a restart using EU finance.

There are optimistic plans by ŽRS to connect the isolated Bijeljina - Velino Selo - Sid ŽS (former JŽ) line to the Doboj - Šamac line, branching off just north of Milosevac on the Šamac line and running through Brčko to Bijeljina. This would provide a direct link to Serbia, to eliminate the need to cross into Croatia or the Muslim-Croat Federation, and would connect the western and southern parts of the Republika Srpska.

Special Notes

Under no circumstances should disused railway lines or installations be explored, because they may not have been cleared of mines.

See also