Serbia - Older General Information

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Introduction

This document acts as an archive for Recent and Future Changes prior to December 2020.

Niš - Prokuplje - Kuršumlija - Kosanička Rača - Merdare - Fushë-Kosovë/Kosovo Polje (Table 85)

South of Kosanička Rača to Fushë-Kosovë/Kosovo Polje closed in the late 1990s due to it crossing the border between Serbia and Kosovo.

Due to poor track condition, from 14 May 2004 severe speed limits were imposed on 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 was later removed again.

From 2009, one train pair was advertised beyond Kosanička Rača to Merdare but it was not clear that these regularly ran: 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.

From the 2021/2022 timetable, no services have been shown over the whole route Niš - Kuršumlija - Merdare.

Changes in 2020

None noted.

Changes in 2019

Passenger services resumed between Požarevac and Majdanpek (the middle section of the [Beograd] – Mala Krsna - Zaječar line) from 19 February 2019, but they did not appear in the 2021/2022 timetable.

Table 34 (Subotica- Horgoš - Kanjiža) disappeared from the 2019-2020 timetable.

Line reconstruction continues to see lines closed temporarily, including Subotica - Senta, Beograd Centar - Mala Krsna, Pančevo - Kikinda and Niš - Zaječar.

Changes in 2018

Novi Sad to Orlovat Stajalište re-opened to passenger traffic on 25 October 2018 with two services each way.

The Table 12 route between Šabac and Loznica re-opened to passenger traffic on 1 September 2018; services were planned to be extended to Zvornik Novi in Bosnia-Herzegovina from the December 2018 timetable change. As far as is known this did not happen, but services had resumed between Loznica and Zvornik by 2022.

Beograd Glavna Železnička Stanica terminus closed on and from 1 July 2018, following completion of the relevant development work, originally scheduled for 2014/2015, at Beograd Centar (Prokop station). Most of the former railway land has now been developed, leaving the old former station for the time being.

Changes in 2017

The December 2017 timetable change on 10 December 2017 saw the following passenger services withdrawn:

  • between Pančevo varoš and Pančevo Vojlovica.
  • between Rasp. Ćuprija and Paraćin (thereby ending services over the southern part of the new cut-off - see map).
  • between Rakovica and Mala Krsna.

Table 44: The service between Vršac and Stamora Moravița (Romania) was withdrawn from 1 August 2017, thereby ending all passenger services between the two countries.

All services on Table 90 Niš - Preševo - Tabanovci (North Macedonia) were subject to significant alterations due to engineering work.

Changes in 2016

The first phase of Beograd’s future main station - Beograd Centar (also known as Prokop) - was inaugurated on 26 January 2016.

Changes in 2015

The Border crossing from Bogojevo to Erdut (Croatia) opened on 14 December 2015.

Banatsko Milosevo to Subotica reopened to passenger trains from the start of the 2015-2016 timetable after a period of closure for engineering works.

Services resumed between Stalač and Kraljevo.

A new cut-off was built in 2015 including a line avoiding Ćuprija station (see map) on the Beograd to Niš line. Initially, some services did not call at Ćuprija station so used the new cut-off line (marked in red on the map), but these ceased in 2017 (see above).

The border crossing between Horgoš and Röszke (Hungary) (Subotica - Szeged line) was reportedly closed on 10 November 2015 when the track was blocked by a border fence erected by Hungary. Reopened in 2022 (for freight) / 2023 (for passenger services).

Changes in 2014

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

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

Changes in 2012

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.

Changes in 2010

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. Service resumed by the 2016-2017 timetable.

Changes in 2009

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

  • Table 12: Šabac - Loznica (service resumed on 1 September 2018)
  • Table 31: Novi Sad - Orlovat Stajalište (this had closed in the late 1990s and re-started with the 15 December 2002 timetable. Service resumed on 25 October 2018)
  • Table 73: Kraljevo - Stalač (service since resumed)

Changes in 2005

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).

Changes in 2002

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

Changes between the late 1990s and 2005

The following 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 were restored, including a temporary road and rail bridge over the Dunav (Danube) river at Novi Sad - which was eventually replaced by a new bridge in 2018.

A new route from Valjevo via Zvornik (in Serbia) to Tuzla (in Bosnia-Herzegovina) 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 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.

See also