Transport in Belgrade

Urban

Belgrade has an extensive public transport system. The public city transport in Belgrade consists of buses, trams, and trolleys. They are operated by GSP Beograd and private transport companies. They all have unified ticket system (ITS). Tickets can be purchased in numerous kiosks or from the driver. They must be cancelled inside the vehicle and are good for one ride only.

Buses

Bus transportation is operated by 7 main carriers:
*Gradsko saobraćajno preduzeće Beograd (GSP) - city-owned company
*Saobraćajno preduzeće Lasta
*Udruženje privatnih prevoznika (Association of private carriers)
*Luv braća Šarac
*Poslovno udruženje Beobus
*Tamnava trans
*Domeco

GSP buses are often called "državni" (state buses) or "gradski" (city buses), while others are referred as "privatni" (private buses). There are 112 regular lines, and 22 night lines. Each of the regular lines is operated by GSP and by one of the other carriers, while night lines are conducted only by private carriers.

Private carriers were introduced in 1990s after many strikes in GSP, which had the monopoly till then. There were many unsuccessful efforts by City Government after 2000 to unify them into the same ticket system. Finally, in 2004 it was agreed that ITS (integrated tariff system) will be introduced. These 6 companies will carry the public transportation till 2012, when the City Government will decide whether GSP is going to remain the only transport company.

Tramways and trolleys

First tram line was introduced in 1892.Trams and trolleys are operated exclusively by GSP Beograd, and there are 12 regular tram and 8 trolley lines. Beside that, there are two night tram lines. Interestingly, tram no. 2 ("dvojka") is a circle-line around downtown, so often downtown is referred to as "krug dvojke" (the circle of no. 2).

Minibuses

In April 2007, six minibus lines were introduced (E1-E7, except E3) which criss-cross Belgrade. Minibuses are all air-conditioned, smaller and generally quicker than buses. However, tickets are bought inside a minibus and they are more expensive than ordinary ones.

Light rail transit

Light rail transit system is being planned as Belgrade's alternative to desperately needed, but too expensive metro. Preliminary plans call for three intersecting lines, but feasibility studies already show that there are serious flaws in those plans and that Belgrade in fact needs a lot more than what is being proposed.

Construction of first LRT line between "Ustanička St." and "Tvornička St." (in municipalities of Zvezdara and Novi Beograd, respectively) is scheduled to begin in 2008, while the line should be completed by 2011.

uburban

Buses

Suburban bus transportation is conducted by SP Lasta. Beside Lasta, certain number of suburban lines are operated by other carriers, too. Suburban transport on the territory of Belgrade and part of Syrmia and Banat is performed within the Lasta's tariff system (LTS), with over 300 lines and 2,500 daily departures. The network of suburban lines spreads radially from Belgrade to the centers of the suburban municipalities, from which Lasta's local lines can be used to reach smaller places. Suburban buses depart from the Lasta Bus Station in Belgrade and from the Zemun terminus (Kej oslobođenja), and the terminus of Šumice near Konjarnik in the neighbourhood of Zvezdara and another in Banovo Brdo. Lasta transports passengers in the local transport in the areas of the Mladenovac, Sopot, Lazarevac, Obrenovac, Grocka, and Barajevo municipalities.

Railway

City railway called "Beovoz" is operated by Железнице Србије (national railway company) and it is connecting suburbs with the urban area. There are six lines with 41 stations:
*Line 1 Nova Pazova - Pančevo Vojlovica
*Line 2 Ripanj - Pančevo Vojlovica
*Line 3 Nova Pazova - Ripanj
*Line 4 Zemun - Valjevo
*Line 5 Nova Pazova - Mladenovac
*Line 6 Nova Pazova - UmčariTwo stations near the downtown (Vukov spomenik and Karađorđev park) which are used by lines 1 and 2 are built underground.Construction of a three line pre-metro/light rail transit system is scheduled to begin in 2008, and the first line should be completed by 2010. The construction of the second line from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law to Topčider will begin in 2009.

Taxi

Taxi service is operated by 24 taxi companies, and it's not very expensive (start is about 1 euro (80 Dinars), while 1 kilometre costs 40 (0,5 euro)to 70 (0,9 euro), depending on the zone you are going to. There are 2 types of taxi the private and the public one. The first is twice expensive than the latest.

Bus

Belgrade is connected by intercity bus lines with all major towns in Serbia and Montenegro, while during summer and winter tourist seasons there are also special seasonal lines.There is a good connection with the cities in Republika Srpska and Macedonia. The international bus lines to Western Europe are mainly focused on Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France, where buses can be taken for all other destinations.SP Lasta, besides suburban transport, carries passengers in intercity transport on regular lines in Serbia and Monenegro and Republika Srpska and in international transport, as part of the Eurolines organization.

Train

Belgrade Central Railway Station ("Главна Железничка Станица", "Glavna železnička stanica") is situated near the downtown and Sava river. Belgrade is directly connected by train with many European (Istanbul, Sofia, Bucharest, Budapest, Vienna, Kiev, Moscow, Thessaloniki), Serbian and Montenegrin cities. Besides that, there are 5 more railway stations in Belgrade (Centar - Prokop, Dunav, Rakovica, Novi Beograd, Zemun). Centar-Prokop station isplanned to become a new central railway station. Some long distance and international trains do not call at Central Station, but at Novi Beograd.

Air

The international airport, Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, is located 12 km outside the city. It is connected with the city by the Belgrade-Zagreb highway. It provides connections with many cities in Europe, Asia and Africa.Eighteen established international airlines maintain offices at the airport. The number of airlines using the Belgrade Airport was set to increase on January 1, 2007 when the Open skies international agreement should have gone into effect in Serbia, lifting protectionist restrictions the national airline or the government placed on international airline traffic landing rights, if it was ratified in the Serbian Parliament, but it still hasn't been ratified.A major expansion of the airport in Belgrade has been detailed with a development deal signed with DynaCorp. Inc. to build a regional air cargo hub, but the plan has failed. Belgrade airport also plans to build a third passenger terminal and another runway; however this may not be feasible in the immediate future.

There is also a military airport at Batajnica, a suburb of Belgrade. This airport is rumored to be turned into public one to handle low-cost airlines serving the city.

River

Belgrade has a commercial port on the banks of Danube named Luka Beograd. There is also a tourist port on the banks of the Sava welcoming various river cruise vessels from across Europe. Belgrade has several impromptu sporting marinas near the islands of Ada Ciganlija and Ada Međica harbouring small sail boats and sporting/recreational vessels. There are two regular boat lines which are connecting Novi Beograd with Ada Ciganlija and Ada Međica. There are no regular passenger lines from the Belgrade Port (Luka Beograd), although tourist and individual lines run occasionally. Answering to the need for a real sporting/recreational marina a detailed plan for a marina in Dorćol on the banks of the Danube has been presented to the public, and an international tender for its development has been announced.

Bridges

There are eight bridges over Sava and one over Danube in and around Belgrade, listed generally from east to west:

*The road truss bridge over Sava at Obrenovac — 30 km southwest of Belgrade, constructed by Mostogradnja between 1993 and 1999. The total length of the bridge is 912 m. Of this, 460 m passes above the river in five spans, the longest of which is 141 m. The bridge was originally designed to carry only two heating water pipelines, but was later redesigned and built as a road bridge with the two pipelines on side cantilevers. [http://www.mostogradnja.co.yu/English/reference2.htm] This bridge, however, is not used or connected to any major road communication for that matter.
*The railway truss bridge over Sava at Ostružnica — just outside the urbanized area of Belgrade. The bridge was badly damaged during the 1999 NATO bombing.
*Motorway girder bridge over Sava at Ostružnica on the motorway to Zagreb — constructed by Mostogradnja between 1990 and 1998. Total length of the bridge is 1,789.6 m, with a 588 m long continuous steel structure crossing the river in five spans. The largest span is 198 m. The bridge was bombed by Nato during Kosovo war in 1999 and fully reconstructed by 2004.
*"Novi železnički most" ("new railroad bridge") over Sava — a cable-stayed bridge built in 1979.
*"Stari železnički most" ("old railroad bridge") over Sava — a truss-bridge.
*"Gazela Bridge" — a single span motorway bridge over Sava, the main traffic artery into the city.
*"Stari savski most" ("old Sava bridge") — a 410 m long road and tram bridge. The main span is a tied arch bridge over 100 m in length. During World War II it was the only bridge to remain intact in Belgrade, and one of the few bridges in Europe which the retreating German forces failed to demolish. In October 1944, the bridge, already laden with explosives and prepared for demolition, was saved by a resistance agent who managed to cut the detonator wires. [http://www.danas.co.yu/20060208/terazije1.html] .

*"Brankov most" ("Branko's bridge") — a 450 m long road girder bridge over Sava, connecting the center of Belgrade to the densely populated residential suburb of Novi Beograd. Originally built as "Most kralja Aleksandra" ("King Alexander Bridge") in 1934 it was the chaine-bridge. The bridge was destroyed in 1941 and rebuilt after the end of World War II,1956 as a single span bridge, at the time it was the longest bridge of that kind in the world.
*"Pančevački most" ("Pančevo bridge") — a 1,075 m long combined road and railroad truss bridge over the Danube, originally built in 1935. It was destroyed during World War II, and rebuilt after the end of the war 1946. It's the only bridge over Danube river in Belgrade.

Construction of a new bridge over Sava, which will cross over the tip of Ada Ciganlija island, is scheduled to start in 2008 and be completed by 2011, significantly reducing traffic passing through the city centre. This new bridge will be a part of the internal magistral ring. The bridge will also carry the third of Belgrade's light-rail lines, connecting the outer parts of New Belgrade with the central areas.

Roads

Belgrade is connected by motorways to Zagreb to the west, Novi Sad to the north and Niš to the south. The motorways feed traffic into a large interchange popularly called "Mostar". A wide boulevard, Ulica Kneza Miloša (Prince Miloš Street) connects the interchange to the city centre.

A traffic decongestion project named "unutrašnji magistralni prsten" ("internal magistral ring") is set to begin with the goal of easing the congestion in the city centre and on the motorways.

Railways

The main railway station is situated near the downtown district, and connects Belgrade with many major European cities, such as Istanbul, Venice, Zurich, Athens, Bucharest, Sofia, Vienna, Budapest, Zagreb, Munich, Kiev and Moscow.

A new central railway station has been under construction since 1977 at the site named Prokop. The new railway station will be called "Beograd Center"; upon its completion all Belgrade rail traffic currently handled by the old railway station situated near the downtown district will be transferred to the new station freeing thousands of square meters of prime real estate along the Sava River and substantially easing the rail travel into Belgrade. After years of delay, this ambitious project is set to be completed in the next few years pending the new international tender for its completion set to be announced by the government at the beginning of March 2006. The train terminals will be situated underground while the vast passenger terminal will be above ground featuring commercial spaces, possibly a hotel and other amenities. Most of the rough work on the station's train terminals has been completed thus far. Belgrade has been restricted in its use of its vast waterfront precisely because of the large rail infrastructure that hug the river banks of the Old Town. Completion of this station is signaling a major boom in Belgrade's waterfront development.

ee also

* Belgrade

External links

* [http://www.beograd.co.yu Град Београд] - City of Belgrade
* [http://www.gsp.co.yu ГСП "Београд"] - City-owned transport company
* [http://www.zeleznicesrbije.com Железнице Србије] - Serbian Railways
* [http://www.beg.aero Аеродром Никола Тесла Београд] - Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport
* [http://www.bas.co.yu Београдска Аутобуска Станица БАС] - Belgrade Bus Station
* [http://www.port-bgd.co.yu Лука Београд] - Belgrade Port
* [http://www.lasta.co.yu СП Ласта] - SP Lasta
* [http://www.belgradenet.com/public_transport_in_Belgrade.html Public Transport in Belgrade]