Belgrade–Bar railway

The Belgrade–Bar railway (Serbian: Пруга Београд–Бар, romanized: Pruga Beograd–Bar) is a railway connecting the Serbian capital of Belgrade with the town of Bar, a major seaport in Montenegro.

Belgrade–Bar railway
A JŽ series 461 on the Belgrade-Bar railway.
Overview
StatusActive
OwnerSerbian Railways, ŽICG
Termini
Service
Operator(s)Serbian Railways, ŽPCG
History
Opened1976
Technical
Line length476 km (296 mi)
Number of tracks1
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Electrification25 kV, 50 Hz AC
Operating speed
  • 70 km/h (43 mph) (currently)
  • 75 km/h (47 mph)–120 km/h (75 mph) (designed)
Belgrade–Bar Railway

electrification
25 kV AC
to Pančevo
Belgrade Main (0,0 km)
Gazela Bridge
Mostar interchange
Old Railroad Bridge
to Šid and Zagreb
New Railroad Bridge
to Pančevo
NIS Petrol
Topčiderka
Topčider
Košutnjak
Rakovica
Kijevo
to Batajnica
to Niš
Resnik
to Mladenovac and Niš
Boundary of Belgrade
Bela Reka
Barajevo
Stepojevac
Kolubara coal mine
Vreoci
Lazarevac
Lajkovac
Divci Airport
Valjevo
Gradac canyon
Gradac
Kosjerić
Požega
to Kraljevo
Uzići
Zlakusa
Sevojno
Užice Freight
Užice
Stapari
Sušica
Branešci
Zlatibor Tunnel (6168 m)
Zlatibor
Jablanica
SRB
BIH
(205,5 km)
Štrpci
BIH
SRB
(214,8 km)
Uvac
Rača
Priboj
Poljice
Pribojska Banja
Lim
Prijepolje
Prijepolje Freight
Vrbnica
Gostun
SRB
MNE
(301 km)
Bijelo Polje
Mojkovac Tunnel (3243 m)
Mojkovac
Kolašin
1032 m
Mateševo
Ostrovica Tunnel (3827 m)
Trebesica
Trebesica Tunnel (5122 m)
Bratonožići
Mala Rijeka Viaduct
Bioče
to Nikšić
2,6
Podgorica
Zetratrans
Aluminium Plant
Podgorica
to Shkodra
Golubovci
Zeta
Morača
Morača Bridge
Lesendro
Lake Skadar
Tanki rt Bridge
Virpazar
Sozina Tunnel (6172 m)
Sutomore
Bari, Corfu
Bar (476 km)
Port of Bar

Overview

Pester Plateau, Serbia on the Belgrade-Bar railway.

The Belgrade–Bar railway is 476 kilometres (296 mi) long, of which 301 km (187 mi) is in Serbia and 175 km (109 mi) is in Montenegro. It is standard gauge and electrified with 25 kV, 50 Hz AC for its entire length. It passes through 254 tunnels of total length of 114,435 m (375,443 ft) and over 435 bridges (total length 14,593 m (47,877 ft)). The longest tunnels are "Sozina" (6.17 km or 3.83 mi), and "Zlatibor" (6.169 km or 3.833 mi). The biggest and the best-known bridge is Mala Rijeka Viaduct, 498 metres (1,634 ft) long and 198 m (650 ft) above ground level.

The highest point of the railway is 1,032 m (3,386 ft) above mean sea level, at the town of Kolašin. The railway descends to 40 m (130 ft) above mean sea level at Podgorica in a relatively short distance, resulting in a gradient of 25 on this section.

A short 9 km (6 mi) section of the railway passes through Bosnia and Herzegovina, where there is a station at Štrpci.

When the line was completed in the late 1970s, the trip between Belgrade and Bar took approximately 7 hours. Today, the same trip takes around 11 hours due to speed restrictions necessitated by poor track conditions and border controls at Bijelo Polje.[1]

Stations

Geographical map of the railway

History

President of Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito and First Lady Jovanka Broz at the opening of the railway in 1976 on Tito's Blue Train.

The decision to build the railway connection between Belgrade and Bar was made in 1952, as a national project of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. However, the construction was passed to the constituent Republics, SR Serbia and SR Montenegro, to build on their own.

The sections of the railway were completed as follows:

The construction works were concluded on 27 November 1975, by joining the railway tracks south of Kolašin. The railway was opened on 28 May 1976. Electrification was completed at the end of 1977.

Maintenance of the Belgrade–Bar railway suffered from chronic underfunding during the 1990s, which has resulted in the railway deteriorating and becoming unsafe. This culminated in the Bioče derailment, when a passenger train derailed, causing the deaths of 47 passengers. As a result, efforts are being made to thoroughly reconstruct the railway.

The Serbian part of the railway was targeted several times by NATO during its bombing campaign in 1999, seriously damaging portions of the railway.[2] Also, the small section that passes through Bosnia and Herzegovina was blown up by SFOR ground forces.[3] All of this damage was later repaired.

In 2016, Serbia started a thorough reconstruction of its portion of the line in order to restore its original maximum speed of 120 kilometres per hour (75 mph). The first section, between Belgrade and Valjevo (27% of the Serbian part of the line) was completed in 2017, with speeds of up to 120 km/h, however Serbian Railways Infrastructure later stated trains reached speeds of 100 km/h, causing some confusion as to what the maximum speed actually is.

See also

References

  1. "Border crossing points". Government of Montenegro. Government of Montenegro. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  2. "14. April – oštećena pruga Beograd–Bar, gađan "Krušik"".
  3. "Kako je minirana pruga Beograd - Bar". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
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