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Serbian Railways ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Железнице Србије, Železnice Srbije, separator=" / "; abbr. / ) is a Serbian
engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
and technical consulting company based in
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
,
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
. In 2015, the
Government of Serbia The government of Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Влада Србије, Vlada Srbije), formally the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Влада Републике Србије, Vlada Republike Srbije), commonly abbreviated to Serbian Governme ...
established three new companies which took over Serbian Railways' former jurisdictions: Srbijavoz (passenger transport), Srbija Kargo (cargo transport) and Serbian Railways Infrastructure (infrastructure management). These companies are not part of the company Serbian Railways. Since then, Serbian Railways continued with modified business activity: engineering and technical consulting, consulting activities in the field of information technology and other information technology services, buying and selling real estate, rental and management activities, accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities, tax advisory services, technical testing and analysis, rental and leasing of other machinery, equipment of non-material goods, activities of the museums, galleries and collections. Serbia is a member of the
International Union of Railways The International Union of Railways (, UIC) is an international rail transport industry body based in Paris. History The railways of Europe had originated during the nineteenth century as many separate concerns across numerous nations; this le ...
(UIC). The
UIC Country Code The UIC Country Code is a two digit-number identifying countries in which members of the International Union of Railways (UIC) are active. The UIC has issued numbering systems for rolling stock ( UIC wagon numbers) and stations that include the co ...
for Serbia is 72.


History


Early history

The history of
rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
in Serbia began in the mid-19th century when most of the territory was still held by the
Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...
and Ottoman Empires. The first rail line on the present-day territory of Serbia was inaugurated on 20 August 1854, between Lisava- Oravica- Bazijaš and the train operated on horse-drawn traffic which was replaced in 1856 by steam locomotives. Part of the line is located in Serbia, passing through
Bela Crkva Bela Crkva ( sr-cyrl, Бела Црква, ; ; ; ) is a town and municipality located in the South Banat District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 7,456, while the Bela Crkva municipality has 14,451 ...
while the rest is in Romania. All subsequently built lines were laid towards
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
as the territory was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire back then. On the territory which was under the Ottomans, the line
Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...
-
Kosovska Mitrovica Mitrovica (Albanian language, Albanian Definiteness, indefinite Albanian morphology#Nouns (declension), form: ''Mitrovicë''; sr-Cyrl, Митровица, Mitrovica), also referred to as Kosovska Mitrovica ( sr-Cyrl, Косовска Митр ...
was inaugurated in 1874. However, the major expansion began after the
Berlin Congress At the Congress of Berlin (13 June – 13 July 1878), the major European powers revised the territorial and political terms imposed by the Russian Empire on the Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of San Stefano (March 1878), which had ended the Rus ...
and the independence of the, theretofore vassal to the Ottomans,
Principality of Serbia The Principality of Serbia () was an autonomous, later sovereign state in the Balkans that came into existence as a result of the Serbian Revolution, which lasted between 1804 and 1817. Its creation was negotiated first through an unwritten agre ...
during the second half of the 19th century. Serbian Railways as a company is traced back to 1881 when Prince Milan I declared formation of the Serbian National Railways. The first train departed from
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
to
Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...
on 23 August 1884, which is considered by Serbian Railways as the official year when the company was created. This was not the first operational railway on the territory of then-
Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...
, though, as the one in opened in 1882, a primarily industrial, though occasionally used for passenger transport, long wide gauge track from
Majdanpek Majdanpek ( sr-cyr, Мајданпек; ) is a town and municipality located in the Bor District of the eastern Serbia, and is not far from the border of Romania. According to 2022 census, the municipality of Majdanpek had a population of 14,559 ...
copper processing plant to Velike Livade (a former village taken over by the plant) and constructed by the Serbian Copper & Iron Co. (official name in English, most stockholders were British) had its first run on the track in June 1882. Another one in Eastern Serbia followed suit in 1888, the long dual purpose (industrial and passenger transport) track from Vrška Čuka mine to the port of Radujevac on the
Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
, built by the ''Societé Anonyme "L'Industrielle Serbe"'' registered at
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
in Belgian, French, (Austro-)Hungarian, and Serbian ownership (in order of the percentage of stock owned). From the 1920s until the 1990s, it operated under the name
Yugoslav Railways Yugoslav Railways (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенске железнице, Jugoslovenske železnice, separator=" / "; ; ), with standard acronym ( in Cyrillic), was the state railway company of Yugoslavia, operational from the 1920s to t ...
, responsible for railways in the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...
. The first electrified line was opened between
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
and
Šid Šid ( sr-cyr, Шид, ; ) is a town and municipality located in the Srem District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It has a population of 12,628, while the municipality has 27,894 inhabitants (2022 census). A border crossing betw ...
in 1970. The line connecting Serbia with south Adriatic (Belgrade-
Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...
) was opened in 1976.


1990–2015

During the 1990s, following the dissolution of the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...
, railways in Serbia suffered the lack of maintenance of infrastructure and the level of traffic, especially cargo, decreased dramatically. As of 2000, Serbian Railways had a total of 32,832 employees. The negative trend continued into the 2000s. Better days for railways started in the early 2010s when program of modernization, both of infrastructure and rolling stock, have begun. In 2013, Serbian Railways signed a contract with RZD International, worth $840 million, aimed at modernization of aging infrastructure by focusing on improving key sections of main railway lines. The section between
Ruma Ruma (; ) is a town and municipality in the Srem District of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2022, the town has a population of 27,747, while the municipality has a population of 48,621. History Traces of organized human life ...
and
Golubinci Golubinci () is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Stara Pazova municipality. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and Croat minority and its population numbering 4,721 people (2011 census). Name The name of the settlement in Serbian is ...
on Belgrade-Šid line was reconstructed in 2014 and additional five sections on Belgrade-Niš-Preševo line (Sopot-Kosmajski Kovačevac, Mala Krsna-Velika Plana, Vinarce-Đorđevo, Vranjska Banja-Ristovac, and Bujanovac-Bukarevac) were modernized and revitalized in 2015 and 2016, while the section between
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
and
Pančevo Pančevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Панчево, ; ; ; ; ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the South Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is located on the shores of rivers Timiș (ri ...
on Belgrade-Vršac line saw doubling tracks along with the reconstruction.


2015–present

In March 2015, the
Government of Serbia The government of Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Влада Србије, Vlada Srbije), formally the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Влада Републике Србије, Vlada Republike Srbije), commonly abbreviated to Serbian Governme ...
announced its plan to establish three additional new railway companies, splitting the Serbian Railways in separate businesses. Those companies are: Srbijavoz operating
passenger transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...
, Srbija Kargo operating cargo transport and Serbian Railways Infrastructure operating as infrastructure management company. Those three companies, fully separated and independent from the Serbian Railways were founded on 10 August 2015, in the process of reconstruction and better optimization of business. In the process, around 6,000 employees left the company with severance payments, which amounts to 39 million euros, by the end of 2017, thus cutting total number of employees from 17,635 in 2016 to around 11,500 in 2018, in all four rail related companies combined. From 2018 to 2020, in the third wave of dismissals, another 1,500 employees are planned to leave the company, cutting the total number of employees to around 10,000 by 2020. That would be 7,635 less employees (43.29%) than in 2016, and 22,800 less (69.51%) than in 2000.


Passenger transport

The company was responsible for passenger transport until 2015. The Serbian railway system consists of of rails of which is double track (7.9% of the network). Some of track (33.6% of the network) is electrified. Serbia has rail links with all of adjacent countries, except Albania.


Domestic railway network

Railroads are categorized as "main lines", "regional lines", "local lines" or "manipulative lines". Following is the table of main lines in Serbia:


Rolling stock

* Electric locomotives ** '' ŽS 441'' with total of: 44 units (29 in service) ** '' ŽS 444'' with total of: 30 units (23 in service) ** '' ŽS 461'' with total of: 51 units (35 in service) ** '' ŽS 193'' with total of: 16 units (16 in service) * Diesel locomotives ** '' ŽS 621'' with total of: 17 units (N/A in service) ** ŽS 622 with total of: 4 units in total (4 in service) ** '' ŽS 641'' with total of: 37 units (11 in service) ** ''ŽS 644'' with total of: 6 units (2 in service) ** '' ŽS 661'' with total of: 42 units (23 in service) ** '' ŽS 664'' with total of: 6 units on lease from
Slovenian Railways Slovenian Railways (, SŽ) is the state railway company of Slovenia, created in 1991. Slovenia is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC Country Code for Slovenia is 79. History What is now Slovenia received its firs ...
** '' ŽS 666'' with total of: 4 units (2 in service) * Electric trainsets ** '' ŽS 412'' with total of: 20 units (14 in service) ** '' ŽS 413'' with total of: 21 units (21 in service) and 18 additional units on order ** '' ŽS 410'' with total of: 3 units (3 in service) 5 new
CRRC CRRC Corporation Limited (known as CRRC) is a Chinese state-owned and publicly traded rolling stock manufacturer. It is the world's largest rolling stock manufacturer in terms of revenue, eclipsing its major competitors of Alstom and Siemens. ...
fast trains are ordered for the future services. * Diesel trainsets ** '' ŽS 711'' with total of: 39 units (39 in service) * Passenger carriages ** ''Passenger cars'' - "open" or "compartment" with total of: 364 units ** ''Sleeping cars'' with total of: 52 units ** ''Couchette cars'' with total of: 63 units ** ''Dining cars''. with total of: 15 units


See also

*
Transport in Serbia Transport in Serbia includes Transportation, transport by road, Rail transport, rail, Air transport, air and Maritime transport, water. Road transport incorporates a comprehensive network of major (i.e. state) and minor (i.e. municipal) roads. R ...
* Srbijavoz * Srbija Kargo * Serbian Railways Infrastructure


References


External links

*
Clip about the Belgrade railway hub and Beovoz commuter network

Clip about the new central railway station


{{authority control 1881 establishments in Serbia Companies based in Belgrade Construction and civil engineering companies of Serbia Engineering companies of Serbia Government-owned companies of Serbia Railway companies of Serbia Railway companies established in 1881 Serbian brands