Serbia - General Information

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Country Name

Serbia (Srbija)

National railway system

National Railway Operator

Železnice Serbije (ŽS - Железнице Србије). It is reported that ŽS is to be divided into three subsidiaries - management, freight and passenger.

Infrastructure Authority

There is no separate Infrastructure Authority in Serbia.

Language

Serbian.

Currency

The Dinar is the normal currency, with Euros also being accepted. Most banks and border stations have currency exchange facilities.

UIC code

Numeric 72; alpha SRB

Timetable

Journey Planner

The ŽS website Timetable page offers two useful search options:

  • Direct Trains - display all trains between two specific stations on the ŽS network
  • Station Timetable - display train departure or arrival lists for each ŽS station

Downloadable Timetable

No official timetable is known but a good unofficial timetable in German Linien- und Tabellenfahrpläne is available for 2016.

Printed Timetable

Red Vožnje. Printed in Serbian throughout.

Engineering Information

None known.

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

Gauge

Standard.

Electrification

25kV 50Hz.

Rule of the road

Right.

Other Railways

None.

Tourist Lines

A long section of the former Beograd - Sarajevo 760mm gauge line, about 30 km west of Užice, has been re-opened: the "Sarganska Osmica", between Sargan and Mokra Gora stations, including a "figure of eight": timetable details on the ŽS website.

A short section of 600mm gauge forestry railway has been rebuilt, also near Mokra Gora.

Metro

None

Trams

Beograd

Recent and future changes

Future

Redevelopment of "Prokop" station in Beograd (i.e. Beograd Centar) will enable closure of the terminal station, Beograd Glavna Železnička Stanica, in around 2014/2015, releasing its site for commercial development.

Work was due to start in December 2015 on a major rebuilding of the Beograd - Budapest (Hungary) main line, due to be completed in June 2017.

Openings

The Table 85 route between Niš and Fushë-Kosovë/Kosovo Polje closed south of Kosanička Rača in the late 1990s. Due to poor track condition, from 14 May 2004 severe speed limits were imposed on table 75 trains between Doljevac and Kuršumlija, and the single train pair beyond Kuršumlija to Kosanička Rača was cancelled. The service was reinstated a few weeks later but later was removed again. From 2009 one train pair was advertised beyond Kosanička Rača to Merdare but it was not clear that these regularly run: in May 2010 they were replaced by buses. In October 2011 an overnight return working between Niš and Kuršumlija was advertised. In the 2012/2013 timetable one daily train was advertised to make a return journey between Niš and Merdare. It ceased running beyond Kuršumlija in early 2014 owing to a tunnel being damaged by flooding. Following repairs, the service resumed on 29 November 2014. Banatsko Milosevo to Subotica reopened to passenger trains from the start of the 2015-2016 timetable after a period of closure for engineering works. The Border crossing from Bogojevo to Erdut (Croatia)also opened 14 December 2015.

Closures

The following services ceased from or before the start of the December 2014/2015 timetable:

  • Table 33: Subotica - Senta - Banatsko Miloševo
  • Table 34: Horgoš - Kanjiža
  • Table I: Kikinda - Jimbolia (Romania) (withdrawn with effect from 1 September 2014)

Serbia was hit hard by flooding in 2014. Most of the routes closed by flooding soon re-opened, but the section of Table 50 between Valjevo and Lastra remains closed in December 2014. Some through trains are diverted via Kraljevo and Lapovo.

The suspension of the Beograd to Bucureşti Nord service on 10 February 2012 removed the only services between Beograd (Beograd Spoljna) and Beograd Dunav via the Sava river line. This service appears to have been replaced by a local service from Beograd Dunav to Vršac with onward connection to Timişoara.

On the Table 45 route between Požarevac and Zaječar via Majdanpek, services between Požarevac and Majdanpek ceased from or before the start of the December 2010/2011 timetable. One daytime train restarted between Požarevac and Majdanpek in the 2012/2013 timetable, but it was reported in September 2013 that this train pair was not operating. No service is shown in the 2014-2015 timetable.

The following services ceased from or before the start of the December 2009/2010 timetable:

  • Table 12: Šabac - Loznica
  • Table 31: Novi Sad - Orlovat Stajalište (this had closed in the late 1990s and re-started with the 15 December 2002 timetable)
  • Table 73: Kraljevo - Stalač

The following services ceased from or before the start of the December 2005 timetable:

  • Table 11: Šid – Bijeljina
  • Table 12: Loznica – Zvornik Grad (already closed for some time)
  • Table 24: Sombor – Apatin Fabrika
  • Table 43: Zrenjanin – Vršac – Bela Crkva (Boka - Bela Crkva had already closed)

The single early morning working over the Vražogrnac avoiding line (Trnavac – Rgotina) ceased from the start of the 15 December 2002 timetable.

A number of passenger services ceased between the late 1990s and 2005:

  • Table 22: Gajdobra - Bačka Palanka
  • Table 23: Karavukovo - Bač
  • Table 32: Novi Sad - Bečej
  • Novi Sad - Beočin
  • Table 35: Čoka - Novi Kneževac
  • Table 41: Kikinda - Banatško Aranđelovo
  • Table 42: Sečanj - Jaša Tomić
  • Table 46: Požarevac - Kostolac
  • Paraćin - Stari Popovac

Historical Information

NATO air strikes in March - June 1999 caused much damage to the country's railway system. The main routes have been restored, including a new road+rail bridge over the Dunav (Danube) river at Novi Sad; however the continuing economic situation means that there is a severe shortage of locomotives and rolling stock.

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. 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. Work on the Valjevo to Zvornik section was stopped - some construction work can be seen at the Valjevo end - but there are optimistic plans of a restart using EU finance.

There were optimistic plans by ŽRS to connect the isolated Bijeljina - Velino Selo - Šid ŽS line to the Doboj - Šamac line, branching off just north of Milosevac on the Šamac line and running through Brčko to Bijeljina. This would have provided a direct link to Serbia, to eliminate the need to cross into Croatia or the Muslim-Croat Federation, and would have connected the western and southern parts of the Republika Srpska. Nothing has been heard of this project for many years.

Special Notes

The Beograd - Bar line passes through Bosnia-Hercegovina (Republika Srpska) for a short distance, including a station at Štrpci.

See also