Serbian Railways

Serbian Railways
Железнице Србије

File:Serbian Railways.svg
Company type	Government-owned
Industry	Rail Transport
Founded	1854
Headquarters	Belgrade , Serbia
Services	Rail Transport, Rail Construction, Services
Number of employees	20,000
Website	serbianrailways.com

Serbian Railways (Serbian: Железнице Србије/Železnice Srbije) is the national, and the only, railway carrier of Serbia. Current network is 4,347 km long, with 32% electrified railways.

History

Main railway station in Belgrade

On August 20, 1854, the first horse-drawn railway was opened on Lisava–Oravica–Bazijas line. The first traffic with steam traction was opened in 1856. Serbian Railways as a company is traced back to 1881 when King Milan I declared formation of the Serbian National Railways. The first royal train departed from Belgrade to Niš on August 23, 1884, which is considered by Serbian Railways as the official year when the company was created. The first electrified line was opened between Belgrade and Šid in 1970.

From the 1920s to the dissolution of Yugoslavia it operated under the name Yugoslav Railways. The department responsible for in-train service and catering is called "KSR - Kola za Spavanje i Ručavanje" (in English: "The Dining and Sleeping Wagons)"

Rolling stock

The rolling stock consists mostly of fast electric train sets (EMU class 412) and of electric locomotives built in the cooperation between Mašinska Industrija Niš (MIN) and Rade Končar Company Zagreb (classes 441 and 444), under the Swedish licence, as well as Romanian built Electroputere Craiova (classes 461 which is used mainly for cargo transport due to its moderate speed), built under the same licence. Some of these locomotives recently underwent comprehensive modernization either by MIN or Končar Zagreb.

The diesel traction is powered by locomotives built by General Motors Company (classes 645, 661, 664, 666), MIN (classes 741, 742, 734), Macosa (class 644), Đuro Đaković Company (class 662, 643, 642), as well as by some other, mostly European suppliers. Diesel trainsets (DMU classes 710, 712 and 812) are used mainly on local lines.

Services

Serbian Railways has many services, ranging from domestic and international routes to tourist rides. For tourism, the heritage line Šargan Eight is used as a train designed in previous century for passengers to experience.

The Šargan Eight passenger train in Southern Serbia which operates near Zlatibor is a heritage railway operated by Serbian Railways

Long haul operations are separated service-wise. Long distance destinations are served by two different services; destinations from Belgrade to southern Serbia and Montenegro are mostly served by the Belgrade-Bar line. For destinations outside Serbia and Montenegro, the Avala inter-city train serves destinations like Venice, Munich, Vienna, Thessaloniki, Budapest, Kiev, and Moscow, and they all pass through Mala Krsna, the second biggest railroad knot in Serbia.

The direct service between Belgrade and Sarajevo, which was cut in the early 1990s during the Yugoslav Wars, was reopened in December 2009.

Railway links with adjacent countries

• Bosnia and Herzegovina - yes
• Bulgarian State Railways - yes
• Croatian Railways - yes
• Hungarian State Railways - yes
• Makedonski Železnici - yes
• Railways of Montenegro - yes
• Căile Ferate Române - yes

Pictures

• 
  Class 441 electric locomotive at Novi Zednik
• 
  Class 661 (EMD G16) with a freight train between Dimitrovgrad and Pirot
• 
  Class 666 near Ruma
• 
  Former swedish Y1 railcar, now ZS class 710
• 
  "Uerdingen railbus" at Kanjiža station
• 
  Class 710 on the line from Zaječar to Niš

See also

• Transport in Serbia
• Belgrade - Bar railway
• Transportation in Belgrade
• Jugoslovenske železnice

External links

• Serbian Railways
• Clip about the Belgrade railway hub and Beovoz commuter network [1]
• Clip about the new central railway station [2]