Belgrade Metro
Encyclopedia
The Belgrade Metro is a planned rapid transit
system in Belgrade
, the capital city of Serbia
. Belgrade is one of the few remaining large Europe
an capitals with a population of a million or more that has no such system. Construction of the full metro has been delayed repeatedly.
The traditional benchmark for building a Metro system in a city is that the city should have at least a million people. In Belgrade this has not been the case, despite the fact that the city crossed the benchmark of one million inhabitants a long time ago (last census
: 1,731,425). Population density, which is already exceptionally high, brings unbearable traffic jams, while the existing public transport system is incapable of shuttling passengers from one outlying end of the city to another efficiently. At the same time, the suburban railway system Beovoz
cannot meet its expected role, due to inadequate infrastructure (small number and inconvenience of stations within city), and obsolete rolling stock.
This project is considered to be the third most important in the country, after work on roads and railways. The two projects which have priority are the Belgrade bypass
and Pan-European Corridor X.
, Slavija
, and Čubura
.
In 1968 a comprehensive plan came about, led by Savo Janjic. The plan called for three lines, totaling a length of 33 kilometers, with 35 stations.
and Dedinje
. Upon completion of the railway junction, construction of a subway system was planned in accordance with plans made by the team led by Branislav Jovin, Belgrade’s chief urban planner.
The most comprehensive plan came about in the 1970s, but none of this came to existence. In the 1976 plan, the planners envisaged five different metro lines.
could build the metro, and in doing so free itself of debt owed to Yugoslavia. This was however opposed by the republics Slovenia
and Croatia
. Due to their objections, this plan has never been carried out.
The original subway construction plan from 1976 was abandoned, in favor of the expansion of the existing Belgrade tram system
network in 1982. This brought the first chapter of the idea to build a subway system in Belgrade to an ignominious end. The same project was later re-launched a number of times, but it was used for short-term political gains.
in the neighbouring republics and economic sanctions only helped to make things worse. Yet, discussion of a metro system returned, after the completion of the Belgrade railway junction
, in 1995. According to officials' talks on the bridge across the Sava river for the metro was planned in 1998.
At first, two underground stations, Vukov Spomenik (at 43 meters depth) and Karađorđev park were opened in 1995 and integrated into the suburban rail system of Beovoz
. These are located in tunnels which were constructed for the abandoned metro project and they resemble conventional column metro stations.
However, the country was bombed in 1999. This exacerbated an already difficult financial situation, resulting in metro plans being indefinitely postponed.
" ( / Beogradski laki metro) plan was presented to the public. After hiring two companies to do a study; Juginus, a company from Belgrade, and the Spanish Ineco, a conclusion was reached that a light rail system should be built. Construction was included into the city's new general plan of 2003 and construction was intended to start in 2006. The opening of the first section was due for 2012 with all two lines complete by 2021.
This decision was severely criticized by a large number of urban planners, led by Branislav Jovin, while architects close to city authorities were advocating the construction, resulting in a substantial polarization between the opponents and proponents of the light metro plan. Announcements were made that the construction would start next spring. Yet, this never came, and the plan for the construction of the light railway system inconspicuously faded out.
As time went on beyond 2004, the plan was altered. The light metro was to have three lines. Construction was supposedly set to begin in 2008, the first line opening in 2013 at a cost of 450 million euros.
In late 2008, Belgrade's major, Dragan Đilas, announced that a metro along the lines of the 1976 plan would be more likely than a light metro. At the session of the National Council for infrastructure, the Belgrade Metro is, according to the Minister for infrastructure Milutin Mrkonjić, the third most important project in Serbia, after road and railway networks. Though the Metro became a national issue, there were still no definite plans.
and under ground in the centre and neighbouring districts. The second line is planned from north to south, going underground in the centre through the already constructed tunnels. Two lines would cross in the city centre near the incomplete main railway station Beograd Centar (Prokop).
Funding has not been allocated for the project yet, but it is expected that French or Russian funding sources will be used.
In November 2011, it was stated that the metro will be built with close cooperation/assistance from the French companies. The Egis Group
will produce an overall metro concept for the city, while the company Alstom
envisages being responsible for tracklaying, electrification, signalling equipment and rolling stock. Again, it was also announced that construction will start in two years.
Some sources say that the system will initially have 36 kilometers, and 55 stations, while others say it will have 15 kilometers and 25 stations. The average speed should be 28.2 km per hour. The construction should last 10 years, as was previously estimated, with each kilometer costing some 60 million euros.
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
system in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, the capital city of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. Belgrade is one of the few remaining large Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an capitals with a population of a million or more that has no such system. Construction of the full metro has been delayed repeatedly.
The traditional benchmark for building a Metro system in a city is that the city should have at least a million people. In Belgrade this has not been the case, despite the fact that the city crossed the benchmark of one million inhabitants a long time ago (last census
Demographics of Serbia
The demographics of Serbia have been shaped by its unique geographic location. Situated in the middle of the Balkans, many different ethnic groups are citizens of Serbia. Serbs are overwhelmingly the largest ethnic group in the country. Furthermore, Albanians have represented the largest minority...
: 1,731,425). Population density, which is already exceptionally high, brings unbearable traffic jams, while the existing public transport system is incapable of shuttling passengers from one outlying end of the city to another efficiently. At the same time, the suburban railway system Beovoz
Beovoz
Beovoz is a commuter rail that provides mass-transit service within Belgrade metropolitan area in Serbia. The main usage of today's system is to connect the suburbs with downtown Belgrade...
cannot meet its expected role, due to inadequate infrastructure (small number and inconvenience of stations within city), and obsolete rolling stock.
This project is considered to be the third most important in the country, after work on roads and railways. The two projects which have priority are the Belgrade bypass
Belgrade bypass
Belgrade City Road Bypass or simply Belgrade Bypass is a beltway, currently under construction, around the city of Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia....
and Pan-European Corridor X.
1950s & 1960s - the Beginnings
City planners have been contemplating the possibility of introducing a metro into Belgrade’s transit system since the 1950s. Several ideas have been discussed since the 1950s "General Urban Plan" discussions as to how to build the metro. The first plan came in 1958, when architect Nikola Dobrovic suggested a line that runs along Kalimegdan, TerazijeTerazije
Terazije is the central square and an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in the Belgrade municipality of Stari Grad.- Location :...
, Slavija
Slavija (Belgrade)
Slavija Square , officially Dimitrije Tucović Square , is one of the central town squares and an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia...
, and Čubura
Cubura
Čubura is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Located in Belgrade's municipality of Vračar, it is a synonym of the city's bohemian life.- Location :...
.
In 1968 a comprehensive plan came about, led by Savo Janjic. The plan called for three lines, totaling a length of 33 kilometers, with 35 stations.
1970s
Words started turning into deeds in the 1970s, during the tenure of Mayor Branko Pešić, when the decision was made to build the new Belgrade railway junction, which would include tunnels under VračarVracar
Vračar is an urban neighborhood and one of 17 municipalities which constitute the City of Belgrade. With an area of only , it is the smallest of all Belgrade's municipalities, but also the most densely populated. Vračar is one of the three municipalities that constitute the central area of the...
and Dedinje
Dedinje
Dedinje is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Savski Venac...
. Upon completion of the railway junction, construction of a subway system was planned in accordance with plans made by the team led by Branislav Jovin, Belgrade’s chief urban planner.
The most comprehensive plan came about in the 1970s, but none of this came to existence. In the 1976 plan, the planners envisaged five different metro lines.
1980s - towards a Tram Alternative
In December 1981, the plan Metro Belgrade was finished and was presented to the city council in 1982. One of the ideas was that the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
could build the metro, and in doing so free itself of debt owed to Yugoslavia. This was however opposed by the republics Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
and Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. Due to their objections, this plan has never been carried out.
The original subway construction plan from 1976 was abandoned, in favor of the expansion of the existing Belgrade tram system
Belgrade tram system
The Belgrade tram system is a large network with 12 lines totalling 127.3 route km. 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 in October 1892...
network in 1982. This brought the first chapter of the idea to build a subway system in Belgrade to an ignominious end. The same project was later re-launched a number of times, but it was used for short-term political gains.
1990s
Economic crisis facing Yugoslavia in the late 1980s became worse in the 1990s. WarYugoslav wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of wars, fought throughout the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995. The wars were complex: characterized by bitter ethnic conflicts among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between Serbs on the one side and Croats and Bosniaks on the other; but also...
in the neighbouring republics and economic sanctions only helped to make things worse. Yet, discussion of a metro system returned, after the completion of the Belgrade railway junction
Belgrade railway junction
The Belgrade railway junction is a massive major reconstruction of the railroad network in Belgrade, Serbia. In was launched 1971 with works officially starting 1974 with the construction of the New Railroad Bridge...
, in 1995. According to officials' talks on the bridge across the Sava river for the metro was planned in 1998.
Beovoz
Beovoz is a commuter rail that provides mass-transit service within Belgrade metropolitan area in Serbia. The main usage of today's system is to connect the suburbs with downtown Belgrade...
. These are located in tunnels which were constructed for the abandoned metro project and they resemble conventional column metro stations.
However, the country was bombed in 1999. This exacerbated an already difficult financial situation, resulting in metro plans being indefinitely postponed.
2000s - futile ideas
On July 3, 2004, a new "BELAMBELAM
BELAM is a defunct plan for a rapid transit system in Belgrade. It was due to begin construction in 2008. It was intended to relieve Belgrade's growing traffic congestion issues, with the first stretch of line opening in 2012...
" ( / Beogradski laki metro) plan was presented to the public. After hiring two companies to do a study; Juginus, a company from Belgrade, and the Spanish Ineco, a conclusion was reached that a light rail system should be built. Construction was included into the city's new general plan of 2003 and construction was intended to start in 2006. The opening of the first section was due for 2012 with all two lines complete by 2021.
This decision was severely criticized by a large number of urban planners, led by Branislav Jovin, while architects close to city authorities were advocating the construction, resulting in a substantial polarization between the opponents and proponents of the light metro plan. Announcements were made that the construction would start next spring. Yet, this never came, and the plan for the construction of the light railway system inconspicuously faded out.
As time went on beyond 2004, the plan was altered. The light metro was to have three lines. Construction was supposedly set to begin in 2008, the first line opening in 2013 at a cost of 450 million euros.
In late 2008, Belgrade's major, Dragan Đilas, announced that a metro along the lines of the 1976 plan would be more likely than a light metro. At the session of the National Council for infrastructure, the Belgrade Metro is, according to the Minister for infrastructure Milutin Mrkonjić, the third most important project in Serbia, after road and railway networks. Though the Metro became a national issue, there were still no definite plans.
2010s - Concrete Plans
In 2010 it was stated that construction of the Metro would begin in two years. The first line will be an east-west line, going above ground in Novi BeogradNovi Beograd
Novi Beograd or New Belgrade is the most populous municipality that constitutes the City of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is a planned city, built in 1947 on the left bank of the Sava river which was previously an uninhabited area, opposite of the old Belgrade...
and under ground in the centre and neighbouring districts. The second line is planned from north to south, going underground in the centre through the already constructed tunnels. Two lines would cross in the city centre near the incomplete main railway station Beograd Centar (Prokop).
Funding has not been allocated for the project yet, but it is expected that French or Russian funding sources will be used.
In November 2011, it was stated that the metro will be built with close cooperation/assistance from the French companies. The Egis Group
Egis Group
Egis Group is a French engineering group involved in the areas of infrastructure and transport systems, planning, water and environment. Egis is also involved in the business of setting up projects and operations for roads and airports.- History :...
will produce an overall metro concept for the city, while the company Alstom
Alstom
Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...
envisages being responsible for tracklaying, electrification, signalling equipment and rolling stock. Again, it was also announced that construction will start in two years.
Some sources say that the system will initially have 36 kilometers, and 55 stations, while others say it will have 15 kilometers and 25 stations. The average speed should be 28.2 km per hour. The construction should last 10 years, as was previously estimated, with each kilometer costing some 60 million euros.