Belgrade, Zagreb and Ljubljana to be connected via railway again in 2022

Train on relation Belgrade-Zagreb-Ljubljana will start again, after several years of pause, in spring 2022, said dean of Belgrade Faculty of Transport, Nebojša Bojović

Trains will run on the route Belgrade – Šid – Vinkovci – Zagreb – Dobava – Ljubljana, and the plan is for the trains to run three to four times per week, with a night line for business passengers, Bojović says.

Price of a one-way ticket according to plan will be around twenty EUR. Bojović explains that the necessary railway infrastructure exists, as well as the passenger interest, and the only thing necessary is to improve the condition of railway on Ruma – Šid section to increase the train speed.

Serbian Railways are involved in the project, and several meetings have been held with collegues from other countries. European institutes dealing with railways and transport will also be included in the project for faster realization.

Bojović assessed that the „elegance of travel offered by the railway“ will draw in part of passengers that are currently forced to use their own, bus or airplane transport, and adds that the plan for the beginning is to rent trainsets, even through there are trainsets that can drive to Ljubljana.

„It is probably good to rent at least two trainsets that can be powered from two different energy sources, in order to evade exchanging locomotives due to transfer to direct-current power in Slovenia“ Bojović explains.

Bojović stated that the power of railway is in economical and ecological aspects, and added that even now more than 20 per cent of transport in Germany is conducted via railway, and that the European plan is to increase that to 55% by 2050.