Can a train change the
world? Probably not! In the Balkans they try it anyway. The
Sarajevo-Belgrade direct connection shell help to bring together the
enemies of the past.
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| Sarjevo train station - the direct train leaves every day at 11:52 |
It is just since two years that this train is
back on track. For many older people in Sarajevo, the journey is
still taboo. For the young generation it is a chance so that Bosnians
and Serbs finally come closer again. With its two border crossings
and three engine changes within 500 kilometers, the 8 hours trip
became also an insiders tip among backpackers traveling in the former
Yugoslavia countries.
See our
photo-reportage below. A 15 minute film of the trip is aired on the
public German channel MDR on 7.7.2012 6pm. For the stream check out MDR Mediathek
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| The one-way trip is just 17 Euros. The first 172 km are managed buy Bosnian-Croation Railway Company |
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| The engines used are mostly old swedish models from the 1960s |
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| In Doboj you enter the autonomus Republika Srpska. Engines and stuff are changed. |
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| The first thing the Republika Srpska rail conducters offered us, was a round of Rakia. |
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| For the 1984 Olympic Games in Sarajevo the railway was built as a double line. But from the past glory there is not much left. |
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| After not much more the 50 km and another hour the croatian border is reached. Again: engine change and first time passport control. |
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| There is much time to relax. But most times no restaurant. So bring enough food + drinks. |
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| The Serbian border in Sid. For a last time engine change + passport control. |
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| The land gets wide and flat. Not much to see, but nice sunsets. |
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| Reaching Belgrade train station. |
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| If you do not know what to do in Belgrade check out belgradealtguide. One thing to see - the Nato-bombings from 1999. |
