Last update for this page: 01 November 2009.
National railway system: Železnice Serbije (ŽS). Within the province of Kosovo, which is currently administered by the United Nations, trains are operated by Hekurudhat e Kosovës (HK); HK has taken over operations previously managed by United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
Language: Serbian; Albanian is the majority language in Kosovo.
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: Red Vožnje. Printed in Serbian throughout. A fold-out, near-geographic route diagram is included in the timetable, but many lines are shown which no longer have a passenger service.
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": www.zlatibor.co.yu/voz/english/--%20sarganska8%20--.htm.
A short section of 600mm gauge forestry railway has been rebuilt, also near Mokra Gora.
Metro: None
Trams: Beograd
Recent and future changes:
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.
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 may have been removed again.
A weak bridge between Tomaševac and Orlovat Stajalište means that trains on table 40 are presently terminating at halts on each side of the bridge (leve obale Tomaševačkog mosta and desne obale Tomaševačkog mosta). Passengers walk across the bridge. This situation is likely to last for a considerable period as repair funds appear not to be available.
A number of passenger services have ceased since the late 1990s. In most cases freight traffic remains but prospects of passenger re-opening are slim:
The following services changed with the 15 December 2002 timetable:
The following services ceased from or before the start of the December 2005 timetable:
The Table 85 route between Niš and Fushë-Kosovë/Kosovo Polje closed south of Kosanička Rača in the late 1990s, and between Kuršumlija and Kosanička Rača in 2004. This has now been re-instated and continues as far as Merdare, almost at the internal border with Kosovo.
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. A Beograd - Banja Luka service was intended to run this way [for a period Thomas Cook's timetable showed a train "subject to confirmation"] but ran instead via Šamac (see above), possibly because of the poor track condition on the ŽS 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 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.
Kosovo
The railways in the province of Kosovo have suffered from the political problems in the area since the war in the late 1990s. These routes are:
The so-called "Freedom Train", operated by UNMIK, ran from 2004 between Hani i Elezit and Lešak via Fushë-Kosovë, Mitrovicë and Zvečan, but the section between Fushë-Kosovë and Zvečan ceased operating in early 2008 due to increasing tension in the Mitrovicë area. There was an UNMIK service to Gračanica for a few years in the mid 2000s but this has also ceased operating.
Train services currently (late 2009) operating are:
Corridor Trains:
The Beograd - Bar line passes through Bosnia-Hercegovina (Republika Srpska) for a short distance, including stations at Jablanice and Štrpci.
Special Notes:
In June 2006 Montenegro became independent of the former combined "Serbia and Montenegro", which on 4 February 2003 had replaced the former name "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia".
Since June 1999, Kosovo (a province of Serbia) has been under the administrative control of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo.
Maps: There is no published map of the railways of Serbia, except that in M.G. Ball's "European Railway Atlas".
Last complete update 8 September 2001. Country name amended (8 February 2003); general update (16 and 22 February 2003, 7 September 2003); general update (21 May 2004); "Sarganska Osmica" text amended (20 August 2004); all YU country codes replaced with CS (13 January 2005); "Recent and future changes" amended (6 February 2005); updated as a result of Montenegro gaining independence (5 August 2006); general update (25 October 2009); Kosovo details amended (1 November 2009).
Copyright © 2001 - 2009. All rights reserved. Copies of this document, whether made electronically or otherwise, must be for personal use only and shall not be used for commercial purposes. The information supplied in this document is for general reference only and should not be relied upon without further specific enquiry. You may alter the formatting and content of this document only to suit your own computer or printer.