Once upon a time there was a daily train connection between the two Balkan capitals of Croatia and Serbia, Zagreb and Belgrade respectively. The service, operated jointly by the Serbian Railways (SV) and Croatian Railways (HลฝPP), who connected the cities in eight hours of travel time, came to an abrupt halt in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, as borders tightened up across Europe and demand for international trips disappeared overnight. Unfortunately, this was where the chapter closed for this service. Fast forward to 2024 and COVID restrictions long gone and the service shows no signs of resuming anytime soon.
I was lucky enough to experience the trip in September 2019 on what would be, unknown at the time, the last few months of operation for the service.
Although the journey from Zagreb to Belgrade itself wasn’t much to write home about in terms of scenery, the service did provide a highly useful, comfortable connection to travel from west to east. This served locals, for example, ethnic Serbs living in Slovenia, travelling to Serbia, and tourists, including those making ultra-long distance trips such as me.
The Zagreb to Belgrade train formed part of my trip from the United Kingdom to Istanbul, Tรผrkiye exclusively by train. Options for such a trip, 100% by rail, are now reduced and long-distance rail adventurers would need to travel via Hungary and Romania now as the line is also closed from Belgrade to Sofia.
Today, the most viable option is to travel by coach, hence why the train most probably didnโt return post-pandemic. This offers the same journey, and a few departures a day to choose from, taking five hours instead of eight that the train took.
Recently, a poster on Reddit (see link here) showed a successful journey from Belgrade to Zagreb by rail, which included a walk across the border in a day. The total journey time was almost 14 hours! I don’t think even I would consider this, but I do admire their courage!
For nostalgia purposes, here’s the travel report of my experience of the no longer existing train from Zagreb to Belgrade, starting with the all important route map. I do hope that sense prevails and the service does re-emerge one day soon.
Departure from Zagreb Glavni kolodvor
The railway station serving the city of Zagreb offers a glimpse into the past offering a real retro vibe. Facilities are aplenty including a booking office, bar/cafรฉ and left luggage. There are also plenty of outlets in the adjoining shopping centre under the station.
Onboard the Zagreb-Belgrade train
The Zagreb to Belgrade train actually started its journey the night before, running as a EuroNight sleeper train from Zurich. In the morning, carriages for Belgrade had been attached in Ljubljana.
The two services operating in this way allowed increased opportunities for more passengers to travel from Western Europe to Belgrade. Although this did require a change of carriages at Zagreb, at least for those coming from Switzerland, as the sleeping and couchette car from Zurich terminated at Zagreb.
At Zagreb, there were five carriages running towards the Croatian-Serbian border, three HลฝPP carriages travelling as far as Vinkovci and two SV carriages running direct to Belgrade. This means that anyone travelling to Belgrade would have needed to join one of the typically graffiti-laden grey carriages.
As is the case with many conventional cross-border trains in Europe, these carriages ran with a Croatian Railways (HลฝPP) locomotive attached, while running in Croatia followed by a Serbian Railways (SV) locomotive taking over at the border for travel in Serbia.
Second Class Accommodation
The carriages serving the Serbian markets only were typically SV Second Class carriages with seating usually in a 2+2 configuration, with most seating in airline-style with seat back tables.
Seat reservations were available on the train with the seat numbers situated on the back of the head rests, indicating the actual seat they were attached to. The positioning of these did lead to confusion and as we arrived we needed to assertively ask for our seats to be vacated which then commenced a impromptu round of musical chairs.
There was a HลฝPP First Class carriage and a further two Second Class carriages of the same operator on the train, though these were detached at the last city before the border, Vinkovci, providing a domestic service on the international train within Croatia.
Making ourselves comfortable in our Second Class seats, there was a special surprise on the service today.
‘First Class’ Second Class Accommodation
On the day, we had lucked out! One of the SV Second Class carriages for Serbia had been replaced with a First Class carriage of the same operator, helpfully confirmed by a “2 Razred” sign stuck on the doors, “razred” translating as “class” in English.
Initially this fact had passed us by, as we settled into our already comfortable enough Second Class seats. It was only when we saw a steady stream of people carting their luggage towards the front that we realised that we could join them. Winner!
The carriage featured similar seats to Second Class, but larger, and in a 2+1 configuration. The floors were carpeted and legroom was larger. It was a real treat for such a long trip. The locks on the toilet doors might have all been broken, but in terms of comfort at the seat we were happy.
Onboard Catering
Fully expecting that there would be no restaurant or bistro carriage, we had planned for this by taking advantage of the eateries at the railway station in Zagreb before departure. Officially there wouldn’t be any food or drinks available onboard, however, yet another treat was in store for us.
Just after ล id on the Croatian-Serbian border, one particular gentleman boarded the train, armed with a couple of cool boxes and a metal tray. The onboard vendor.
Offering an array of drinks including espresso coffee, soft and alcoholic drinks, he did his best to sell what he could, parading up and down the carriages a few times recommending drinks.
Having been surprised initially, with us sitting at the last seat in the carriage we did miss him, so I went to go looking for him. Having arrived in Stremska Mitrovica, I spotted him taking coffee to the drivers.
Successfully catching the popular guy when he re-boarded, my much needed order for “pivo”, or beer, was placed and he accepted both Serbian Dinars and Euros – ideal to use up some change we had accrued from stops in France, Germany and Austria. A few moments later, he turned up again with a can of ‘Lav’, my first taste of Serbia.
Border Crossings
I don’t recall the first border station, but I think it must have been Tovarnik. This was the final station in Croatia and by usual practice, this would have been the point for checking passports. Firstly, checks were carried out by the Croatian police on the train, as at the time of writing Croatia wasn’t in the Schengen Zone. In ล id, a passport check took place for the Serbian police.
Scenery
As mentioned, the journey from Zagreb to Belgrade isn’t much to write home about in terms of the scenery on offer. For much of the journey across Croatia the scenery is flat with big skies and endless views of fields. Approaching Beograd Centar station, there was a wonderful view over the river Sava and the Ada bridge.
Arrival into Beograd Centar
At the time of taking the trip in 2019, there were three stations open in Belgrade, although one of these had closed for trains with only offices and cafรฉs open – Belgrade Main Station. The Zagreb to Belgrade train arrived into the new concrete jungle of Beograd Centar station destined to replace Belgrade Main Station (and Topฤider where I took the stunning train from Belgrade to Bar, Montenengro), located nowhere near the city centre. The station had limited facilities, which included a booking office, and was without its roof until recently. Taxi drivers were in abundance and making the most of the opportunity of the station’s new, weird location.
A project met with disapproval as the historical original Belgrade Main Station, actually located in the city centre, was being demolished in favour of the Belgrade Waterfront Project. A real shame.
Some pictures of the old Belgrade Main Station with no longer any tracks in 2019:
Arriving into the new Beograd Centar:
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Conclusion
The Zagreb to Belgrade provided a useful connection from west to east connecting two countries in the Balkans before the service came to the end of the line during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The journey time may not have been the fastest, but it was a popular service with locals and interrailers and I hope the Croatian and Serbian Railways will get their act together and it will return again soon.
This Travel Report was first published in May 2024.
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