Belgrade–Bar railway

File:Wiadukt kolejowy Mala Rijeka w Czarnogórze.JPG]]

File:Pester Plateau, Serbia - 0118.CR2.jpg

The Belgrade–Bar railway is {{convert|476|km|||abbr=}} long, of which {{convert|301|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} is in Serbia and {{convert|175|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} 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 {{convert|114,435|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} and over 435 bridges (total length {{convert|14,593|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}). The longest tunnels are "Sozina" ({{convert|6.17|km|mi|disp=or|abbr=on}}), and "Zlatibor" ({{convert|6.169|km|mi|disp=or|abbr=on}}). The biggest and the best-known bridge is Mala Rijeka Viaduct, {{convert|498|m}} long and {{convert|198|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} above ground level.

The highest point of the railway is {{Convert|1032|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} above mean sea level, at the town of Kolašin. The railway descends to {{Convert|40|m|abbr=on}} above mean sea level at Podgorica in a relatively short distance, resulting in a gradient of 25‰ on this section.

A short {{convert|9|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} 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.{{cite web |title=Border crossing points |url=https://www.gov.me/en/article/border-crossing-points |website=Government of Montenegro |access-date=19 July 2023 |language=en}}

File:Bahnstrecke Belgrad-Bar (ohne Haltestellen).png

{{Further|Railway stations in Montenegro#Belgrade-Bar railway}}

File:Tito Otvaranje pruge Beograd Bar 2 (1 von 1).jpg 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.{{Citation needed|reason=I recall the whole country (that is, mostly Slovenia and Croatia) financing it|date=November 2018}}

The sections of the railway were completed as follows:

• Resnik – Vreoci in 1958
• Podgorica – Bar in 1959
• Vreoci – Valjevo in 1968
• Valjevo – Užice in 1972
• Užice – Podgorica in 1976

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.

In February of 1993, during the Yugoslav Wars, short Bosnian section of the railway was the site of the Štrpci massacre. 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.{{cite web | url=https://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/78%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B0/story/2865/iz-dana-u-dan/3489209/14.-april--ostecena-pruga-beogradbar-gadjan-krusik.html | title=14. April – oštećena pruga Beograd–Bar, gađan "Krušik" }} Also, the small section that passes through Bosnia and Herzegovina was blown up by SFOR ground forces.{{Cite web|url=https://www.vreme.com/arhiva_html/vb4/3.html|title=Kako je minirana pruga Beograd - Bar|access-date=2021-05-06|archive-date=2016-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063832/http://www.vreme.com/arhiva_html/vb4/3.html|url-status=dead}} All of this damage was later repaired.{{Citation needed|date=November 2016}}

In 2016, Serbia started a thorough reconstruction of its portion of the line in order to restore its original maximum speed of {{Convert|120|km/h}}. 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.

The railway line and its construction were the subject of interpretations from the folk music genre in Yugoslavia, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s, such as by Lepa Lukić (Brzi voz Beograd Bar and Beograde, Bar te zove), or the Braća Bajići (Sitan kamen do kamena). In the latter song, meters from the Starogradska Muzika and the Kolos with the sounds of the gusle represent the symbolic connection between the republics. The same was true of Dragan Antić's record Pruga Beograd–Bar, on which, of the four songs, the number Jadran Ekspres began with the solo singing of a guslar. Antić's album, like Lepa Lukić's album of the same name, was released on the Yugoslav major label RTB (Radio Televizija Beograd – today's RTS). These albums were financed by the Jugoslovenska Investiciona Banka and featured identical covers with the railway line, once in blue and once in red.

The last train to leave the Beograd-Glavna station, on 15 June 2018, was bid farewell at the station by playing the cult hit A sad adio.N1, 16. Juni 2018 {{Webarchive|url=http://rs.n1info.com/a396784/Lifestyle/Lifestyle/Uz-pesmu-A-sad-adio-ispracen-poslednji-voz-za-Bar-sa-Glavne-zeleznicke.html |wayback=20180616130324 |text=Na Glavnoj železničkoj „A sad adio“ za poslednji voz za Bar |archiv-bot=2023-03-14 11:37:03 InternetArchiveBot }}Blic, 16. Juni 2018 [https://www.blic.rs/vesti/beograd/emotivni-ispracaj-sa-zeleznicke-stanice-poslednji-voz-za-bar-otisao-uz-dugu-sirenu-i/ljr20bh Emotivni ispraćaj sa železničke stanice Poslednji voz za Bar otišao uz dugu sirenu i pesmu „A sad adio“] The Serbian media spoke of the end of an era, and the locomotive driver of the last journey said goodbye to the station and the waiting passengers with a siren.b92, 16. Juni 2018 [https://www.b92.net/biz/vesti/srbija.php?yyyy=2018&mm=06&dd=16&nav_id=1405032 Kraj jedne ere – ispraćen poslednji voz za Bar] In 2024 The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent, Croatian film by Nebojša Slijepčević, covered 1993 war crime at the Bosnian section of the railway.

File:Belgrad main central arrival of Belgrade-Bar train.jpg|A ŽS 461 arriving at Belgrade.

File:Bijelo polje railway station on the Belgrade-Bar railway.jpg|Bijelo Polje railway station on the Belgrade–Bar railway.

File:ZCG461 Virpazar.jpg|Montenegro railways former ŽS 461 passing through Virpazar

File:ŽS 461-013.jpg|ŽS 461-013 on the Belgrade–Bar railway.

File:Vrbnica train station (4).jpg|A ŽS 461 at Vrbnica on the border of Serbia and Montenegro.

File:ŽS 441 in Priboj.jpg|A ŽS 441 at Priboj

• Serbian Railways
• Rail transport in Montenegro
• Tito's Blue Train
• JŽ series 461 commonly operated over the Bar-Belgrade line. Based on a Swedish design.
• JŽ class 412/416 Latvian EMU
• CAF Civity EMU
• JŽ 661 Shunter/Montecargo
• JŽ 644 Shunter/Montecargo
• JŽ 744 (none of them is active) Shunter/Montecargo
• JŽ D66/761s (DB Class V 200 based engines) of Tito's Blue Train.
• JŽ 666s (EMD JT22CW-2s) of Tito's Blue Train

{{reflist}}

{{Attached KML}}

• [https://www.seat61.com/belgrade-to-bar-railway.htm Belgrade to Bar railway], Seat 61
• [https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2016/nov/06/balkan-express-railway-belgrade-to-bar-serbia The Guardian]

{{Commons category|Belgrade–Bar railway}}

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Category:International railway lines

Category:Railway lines in Serbia

Category:Railway lines in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Category:Railway lines in Montenegro

Category:Cross-border railway lines in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Category:Cross-border railway lines in Montenegro

Category:Cross-border railway lines in Serbia

Category:Railway lines opened in 1958