Trams in Belgrade


The Belgrade tram system is a 1000 mm gauge network that in 2011 had 10 routes running on of track in the city of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is operated with around 200 trams, including ČKD Tatra KT4, CAF Urbos, and DUEWAG Be 4/6 vehicles. The first tram line was introduced on 14 October 1892. In the late 2000s, complete reconstruction of the system commenced.

Lines

There are 11 lines in operation every day until around 12:00 am. There are no tram services throughout the night. Throughout the night there were three tram lines: 7N, 9N and 11N.
These lines ran on the current tram network, all these services were discontinued in the early 1990s.
Another line was discontinued in 2012 after re-routing of the line 12 in Resavska street and extension of the line 3 to Omladinski Stadion through Slavija Square:
Another 2 lines were discontinued in 2006 after moving on night buses:

From 1892 to World War I

Belgrade administration signed a contract with Periklos Tziklos from Milan, Italy, in 1891, regarding construction of long tram grid. Tziklos headed the Serbian-French Society and was concurrently awarded with the concession on introduction of the electricity in Belgrade.
On 14 October 1892, the first tram line in Belgrade was opened. It went from Kalemegdan to Slavija and was horse-powered. A large festivity was organized in the city for this occasion and two cars were placed in front of the municipal building. First passengers were municipal president Milovan Marinković and members of the municipal administration. The tram started its inaugural ride at 11:00 AM, in the direction of the central Terazije square, where several thousand of citizens gathered to greet "city train", and where the Metropolitan of Belgrade, Mihailo Jovanović, blessed the first tram.
The line had a total of 8 cars, operated by 2 horses each. The interval between the cars was 10-12 minutes and the total duration of the line was 18 minutes. Each car had 6 horses assigned to it, which changed shifts at every 2 hours. There were no designated stops except at the terminuses. The passengers were simply stopping the trams wherever they needed to get on or off. Each car had room for 16 sitting and 16 standing passengers. Second line was Slavija-Belgrade Central railway station-Sava Port, and the third was Terazije-Belgrade New Cemetery.
First chief of the tram transportation in Belgrade was Czech émigré Vinčenc Blažek, while the treasurer was Jean Salot from France. The horses were stationed in the tram depot, built along the Tsarigrad Road, modern Depo in Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra. The complex was called "tram stables". Despite the introduction of the electricity powered trams two years later, the horses continued to be used until 1904.
The first electric line was introduced on 5 June 1894. The first electric line connected Terazije, the very downtown of Belgrade, with Topčider, at the time a suburban forest and an excursion area. By the second half of the 1890s, the city already had of tracks. The route to Topčider went down the steep Topčider Road, which caused frequent derails of the trams and subsequent constant complains from the citizens. Then for about 10 years, from the end of 1894, there were no works on modernization and widening of the tram system. It was not until 1903, when the operations related to the construction and exploitation of tram transport and electric lighting were passed, that the electrification of tram lines sped up.
In 1894, the first strike occurred, which halted trams for several days. Employees had only 2 days off in a month and the bosses wanted to abolish that, too. In the end, the company raised wages for 10 dinars per month. Citizens often made official complaints to the city regarding trams. Main complaints were: that trams were getting late already at the start; general unreliability of the organized transportation; deliberate reducing of number of the cars by the Society, below the number of trams stipulated by the contract with the city; frequent stopping of the trams due to the voltage and ensuing fighting with the conductors which were supposed to refund the passengers in these cases but were refusing to do so; inadequacy of the "summer cars" and "winter cars". According to the archived complaints, a major problem was height of the kids. Children lower than a meter weren't paying the ticket. The conductors had a special stick to measure the children, but the parents often claimed that their children were lower than the stick would show.
During 1904, electric trams replaced horse-drawn trams on the Kalemegdan – Slavija and Kafana Žagubica – Električna centrala routes and in 1905 the last ones were replaced at Terazije - New Cemetery route. Apart from performing the function of public transport, “horse trams” were also a focus of great interest in Belgrade at the time and their striking image remained with their contemporaries for a long time. The introduction of the trams in general is today considered as a major step in the modernization of Belgrade, and victory of "Europe over the Orient".
Despite the frequent friction between the city and the Society, the contract was expanded in 1911 to include two more lines: Slavija-Čubura and expansion from the New Cemetery and the Grobljanska Street to Trošarina on Smederevo Road. The Society was obliged to complete works in 8 months, but was late. After continued fights with the city which threatened to activate penalties, the work was finished only in 1913. As the development of the grid became a serious and expensive task, the construction of the tram infrastructure was then assigned to the privately owned company "Belgian Anonymous Society". Twenty years after the introduction of tram transport and 7 years after the electrification of the last line, in 1912 there were 8 tram lines in Belgrade on which a daily average of 24 tram motor cars and 12 trailers operated. The total grid was long. That year 7.5 million passengers were transported.

Interbellum

and occupation of Belgrade left the electric power plant, electric network and, consequently, city tram transport in a very bad state. Soon after the liberation of the city in 1919, the Belgrade Municipality took over the system, as the "Belgian Anonymous Society" wasn't able to repair the grid. Most of what was left from the pre-war period was worn out. It was replaced in stages, by 1932. By this time the crumbling electricity poles which formed the grid were replaced, the tracks were either repaired or replaced from 1920 to 1924, modern trams were purchased and the grid was extended. In 1928, the buses were introduced into the urban transportation system, but the development of the system was slow, especially until 1936, and up to the after World War II, the bus transportation lagged behind the trams.
At the end of 1932, Belgrade had of tracks, of which 2/3 were double-track and 1/3 single-track ones. During 1931 and 1932 the following new lines were opened: Knežev spomenik – Dedinje, Slavija – Dušanovac, Terazije – Pašino Brdo and Smederevski drum – Cvetkova mehana – Prištinska Street.
After the opening of the King Alexander Bridge on 16 December 1934, which had two tram lanes, a tram connection between Belgrade and Zemun was established on 5 November 1935. The line had number 14 and connected Hotel Moskva on Terazije to Hotel Central in Zemun.
In 1940, there were ten lines, and there were 154 trams and trailers all together. The system and city sustained heavy damage during World War II. During the course of World War II, 38 trams and 36 trailers were destroyed.

Post-World War II

The system was steadily rebuilt after World War II. In 1955 there were eight lines with 162 trams.
After the war, as the King Alexander Bridge was demolished, several trams remained on the Zemun side. The tram line on the left Sava bank was partially re-established, connecting Zemun and Staro Sajmište, keeping the No. 14.
In 1956, the first tram produced in Serbia entered the traffic. It was made in the Goša factory in Smederevska Palanka.
The proper work on creating the Belgrade Metro subway system began with the tenure of mayor Branko Pešić. For that purpose, the Subway section within the city administration was formed in the early 1970s, headed by Branislav Jovin, Belgrade’s chief urban planner at the time. The Section produced the most comprehensive of all subway plans in 1976. In December 1981, the plan Metro Belgrade was finished and was presented to the city council in 1982.
City organized a compulsory, self-imposed tax, imposed on the salaries of all employed Belgraders. Set specifically for the construction of the subway, the fund grew to $200 million. As a comparison, city of Vienna, Austria, built its first metro line in 1967 for $100 million. Suddenly, the idea was then declared "too expensive" and the chief city executive Radoje Stefanović suspended the original subway construction plan from 1976 in favor of the expansion of the existing tram system network in 1982. According to architect Dragoljub Bakić, Stefanović summoned the engineers who worked on the subway project for 12 years, told them to dig a hole and bury all the metro projects in it.
In 1984 the tram connected old part of the city with the New Belgrade, across the Sava River, via the Old Sava Bridge. In 1985, the system was extended to 42 km.
In 1990 and 1991, the system reached its peak usage. This was to change, with the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. Sanctions on Serbia resulted in funding being slashed drastically. Investments in the purchase of new vehicles, spare parts and maintenance of infrastructure were minimal. During 1996 and 1997, tracks were reconstructed in Bulevar revolucije, as well as in Ruzveltova Street and Jurija Gagarina Street. The country was bombed in 1999, putting additional pressure on the system.

21st century

In the 2000s, funding for mass transit increased as the country slowly recovered. A number of cars arrived as a donation from Switzerland and, specifically, the city of Basel. In 2004, some 150 trams were in service. Widespread reconstruction was announced approaching the end of the decade. Between 2005 and 2010 tracks were completely reconstructed and modernised in following streets: Treći bulevar, Milentija Popovića, Savska, Nemanjina, Bulevar kralja Aleksandra, Požeška, Pariska, Bulevar vojvode Mišića, Tadeuša Košćuškog. Also, tracks on Autokomanda are reconstructed as well as Old Sava Bridge. Vojvode Stepe, in the Voždovac neighboroughood, was also under reconstruction, including changing tracks and moving them to the street center. The reconstruction was completed in August 2015. During the mayoral tenure of Dragan Đilas, modern Spanish CAF trams were purchased, but they weren't fit for all the tracks.
in the Savamala neighborhood
In July 2015, city administration announced an ambitions plan of the tram grid expansion. The planned phased development includes restoration of the line No. 11, establishment of the line No. 4 from Tašmajdan to Banjica, renumeration of all tram lines which would then be numbered in one sequence from 1 to 12, several new lines, shortening of the Circle of the Deuce, revitalization of the stock and introduction of the free internet, air conditioning and commuter counters, etc. The massive changes in public transportation were announced for 1 January 2016.
The reconstruction of track in Bulevar Oslobođenja has started in July 2017 and should be followed with the reconstruction of track on Slavija Square. This long awaited reconstruction shall finally allow the operation of low floor trams on the Slavija-Banjica mainline. The troubled reconstruction was finished by November 2017, at least when it comes to the traffic.
In December 2018, Ministry of construction, transportation and infrastructure instigated changes in the Law on Communal Activity, which would allow for private companies to operate trams and trolleybuses, as the present law allows them only to operate city transportation's bus lines. Also by December 2018, nothing has been done from the 2015-2016 plans, except for the restoration of the line No. 11. At that point, city administration announced further plans: restoration of the line between downtown Belgrade and Zemun and establishment of the line to Višnjičko Polje.
In February 2020, the GSP announced new plans regarding the future of the tram grid. It included vast expansion, mostly extensions of the already existing routes: from Block 45 to Blocks 70 & 71 and Ledine, from Banovo Brdo to Vidikovac, from Bogoslovija to Karaburma and Rospi Ćuprija, from Konjarnik to Mali Mokri Lug, from New Belgrade to Tošin Bunar, to Bežanijska Kosa. It also includes dormant idea of Line No. 1 from Kalemegdan to Slavija Square, with connection from Terazije to Tašmajdan. New tram depots are planned in Ada Huja, Vidikovac and Galovica. However, despite the planned expansion, purchase of new trams wasn't planned. City planned to buy 158 various vehicles for public transportation, but only three tram trailer cars, while 10 trams and 4 trailers were planned for decommission. An average age of trams in 2020 was 34 years and the last serious purchase was back in 2010 when CAF trams arrived.
In July 2019 works on the complete refurbishment of the Sava Square and the plateau in front of the Belgrade Main railway station began as part of the Belgrade Waterfront project. The officials claimed the changes in the traffic during the works will be minimal. However, the public transportation grid was changed already at the start of the works, while in January 2020 it was almost completely disrupted. This caused massive traffic jams, so the traffic was partially rerouted to the newly built, partially operational streets within Belgrade Waterfront but the clogging just spread here, too. On 29 February 2020 the square was completely shut down for traffic which led to the unprecedented disturbance in the tram lines grid: out of 11 lines, only one functioned properly, one used changed route, one was formed as sort of the "Frankenstein" line, serving parts of several other line's routes, while the remaining 8 were completely shut down. This caused widespread traffic jams over the city and crowds of commuters.

Ada Bridge

When a new bridge across the Sava was planned, it was planned to have both the auto carriageways and tram tracks. The bridge was built from 2008 to 2011 and was open for the car transport on 1 January 2012, but the tram tracks were not placed across it. Only in 2016, city officials announced that the first trams will cross over the bridge in 2017. But a request for tender, concerning the construction of the tram tracks over the bridge, was distributed by the city government only in December 2016, and it failed. It was repeated in December 2017. The project includes of a new, dual gauge tracks, with connections to the existing routes in New Belgrade and Banovo Brdo. If the tender is successful, the trams may become operational in 2019.
From the New Belgrade side, the connection will be at the Đorđa Stanojevića Street, continuing over the embankment and the northern access road to the center of the bridge. On Čukarica side, it will connect to the existing route at the border of Banovo Brdo and Rakovica. Places for the future additional tram stations, right at the ending points of the bridge, are already allocated. Among the other additional works, the already existing elevated track across the Topčiderka river, will be removed but the pillars will be preserved and used for the new track bridge. Some preparatory works began in March 2018 and later that month city signed a contract with "Energoprojekt holding", which won the bidding. Construction should last for 420 days. Some citizens' associations suggested that the new tram lines from the new bridge should extend to Zemun, reestablishing the tram connection with Belgrade which was severed in 1941. That way, Zemun would be directly connected by tram to New Belgrade and the southern parts of Belgrade across the Sava.
After a month-long testing, the tram traffic across the bridge started on 4 July 2019. Initially, two lines will cross the bridge: No. 11L and No. 13.

Restoration of Line No. 1

After new city government took over in 2013, they announced the creation of a pedestrian zone in the entire central section of Belgrade. City manager Goran Vesić announced that one single tram line, using the original number 1, will replace all four trolleybus lines and the only bus line, which traverse through the city’s main street Kralja Milana. Regarding reasons, Vesić stated that the overhead lines look ugly in downtown and that citizen complained about the noise made by the trolleybuses. The immediate reaction of the citizens was mostly negative.
However, some of the advantages of the trolleybuses are their minimal noise pollution. Also, there is a matter of price of digging up the entire center of the city so that at least of tram tracks can be placed, and the cost of buying the new trams which will supposedly be operated on capacitors, without the grid. At the moment, five lines pass through the main street 47 times per hour. On average, that is one vehicle on every 77 seconds, which is virtually impossible with only one line.
In May 2017, Prime Minister of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, even though the Belgrade's city transportation is completely outside of his jurisdiction, stated that he wants to abolish the trolleybus network completely and replace it with the electric buses. As a reason, he said that the trolleybuses are causing problems and that when one stops due to the malfunction, it stops the entire traffic behind it. Though electric buses may be a better solution than the trams, the reasoning is dubious. Trolleybus has the same traffic avoidance as an electric bus and much easier than a tram. Contrary to the trams, which indeed stop all the trams behind when one malfunction because they all use the same tracks, when a trolleybus is broken, it is simply unhooked from the grid and is easily bypassed by the trolleybus behind it.
In November 2018, Vesić, now a deputy mayor, confirmed that the tram line No. 1 will be conducted through downtown instead of electric buses. He announced that the laying of tracks will began soon and that the entire work, which would include the narrowing of the central city street, Kralja Milana, will be finished in two years. However, by 2020, nothing had been done, and even during the prolonged reconstruction of the Republic Square, where the route goes, the tracks were not laid. In the new plan for the future several years from February 2020, the line was kept as the project. Also in February 2020 city announced the reconstruction of the starting section of the proposed line, the Vasina Street, for 2021, but that it is unlikely the line will be introduced then. If introduced later, it would include the new digging of the 2020-2021 reconstructed Republic Square and Vasina Street. At this time, the line was described as the circular one, without the electric grid but with the "internal source" and the city claimed they contacted "Siemens" to construct the original streetcars as they were at the 1900s, which "Siemens" accepted.

Circle of the Deuce

Tram No. 2 has no termini, instead it circles around the majority of the city's center. As the route has remained unchanged since 1924, the tram, colloquially named Dvojka in Serbian, and its circle became one of the symbols of Belgrade and, in the local folklore, marks who the "real" and who the "peripheral" Belgraders are. Living inside the circle indeed grants the higher prices of the real estates and higher rent.
to reach downtown Belgrade
Following the counting of the commuters in October and November 2014, in July 2015 city government announced that, when it comes to the trams, somehow it turned out that the biggest problem is the southwest section of the route of Dvojka. It was announced that the route will be shortened for one block, the one that reaches the Vukov Spomenik. Instead, it will pass next to the Faculty of Law. Slaven Tica, professor at the Faculty of Transport Engineering, who was involved in the counting and subsequent changes in the lines of public transportation, said that "Dvojka will be improved as it showed signs of certain illnesses in its functioning...the basic problem of Dvojka is the sharp decline in the number of passengers in the zone of Vukov Spomenik". He also added that all tram lines will be changed to some degree. It was also stated that Dvojka slows down the trams No. 3, 6, 7 and 12 and obstructs the Slavija-Dorćol connection. City government also reported that the citizens were interviewed and that they voted for the line to be shortened.
The heated public debate, mostly online, lasted for months. As experts from the Faculty of Transport Engineering were involved in the change of the route, popular objections were that with the problems in Belgrade's transportation, which are legion, "experts" have no better things to do but the shorten the oldest line for one block and that they "probably don't have the clue". Those involved into the shortening of the line were labeled as "idle", "those who never commute" and "upstarts and philistines who decided to pose as the planners". Commentators also said that Mayor Siniša Mali and city manager Goran Vesić should be "discgraced and ashamed" for their, ironically labeled "revolutionary move".
After it was announced that citizens allegedly voted for the route to be shortened, debate developed between the Belgraders themselves. The "inners" mostly accused the "peripherals" of being jealous and how nice it is in Belgrade when the holiday season comes and all the "village people" travel to where they came from, while they responded how the "inners" are spoiled and that a bit of walking will do them good. Though being one of the symbols of the city and enjoying the cult status among Belgraders, such a long and heated debate wasn't expected as it extended until 2017.
Further analysis, however, by experts who didn't participate in this project, showed that shortening the line for 7-10 minutes won't help the commuters. Those commuting to Vukov Spomenik would have to change trams or buses, while rerouting Dvojka and making it faster will create traffic congestion on the tram lines from the Faculty of Law to the Gazela Bridge. They also disputed the cost benefits, noting that lesser electricity consumption for only several stops would yield minimal cost savings, and calling the entire idea illogical both in terms of traffic and economy. Tica, however, maintains that Dvojka is degraded by the bus lines, that it obstructs the traffic, affects the flow on the crossroads and that making it shorter will save money for GSP.
In the summer of 2017 a reconstruction of the Ruzveltova street began. As it is the street where Dvojka reaches Vukov Spomenik and turns, it is expected that when the reconstruction of that section starts, Dvojka will be temporarily shortened to the proposed route from 2015. Suspicions already appeared that the change will actually be final. Amidst the public debate, the historic route remained intact, and the tram resumed its circle in October 2017, though with some delay because of the prolonged works. However, due to the works in the Karađorđeva Street in the western section of the route, the line was shortened in November 2018 and temporarily renamed 2L. When the simultaneous reconstruction of the streets in the eastern section began in June 2019, the line, with few others, was shut completely. The works in the east were to be finished in December 2019 and in the west by January 2020, but both have been extended so the line will be closed at least until August 2020.

Models

Duewag Be4/6

Schindler

Tatra T4

Tatra KT4

CAF Urbos 3

Museum