Free train to Subotica from today

Passenger trains will start to run regularly on the high-speed line today at noon on the route Belgrade Center - Subotica - Belgrade Center, and in the promotional period that will last until October 12, passengers are provided with free train tickets.

The traffic of Inter City trains (SOKO) and Inter Regio trains will be organized on the mentioned route, Srbijavoz company announced.

From Belgrade Centar station, the first departure for Subotica station is "Inter City" train number 546, which departs at noon. From Subotica station, the first departure for Belgrade Centar station is "Inter City" train number 547, which also departs at 12 o'clock.

Passengers can collect their tickets at the ticket office, via the mobile application and the Srbijavoza website. For traveling on Inter City trains (SOKO) and Inter Regio trains, it is necessary for passengers to obtain their train tickets in a timely manner, as this ensures a seat reservation. Passengers can be informed about available seats on trains at the ticket office and through the mobile application and website.

Eighteen "Inter City" trains (SOKO) on this route will run every two hours. Nine trains depart from Belgrade Center station at 6:00 a.m., 8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Nine trains depart from Subotica station at 6:00, 8:00, 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 18:00, 20:00 and 22:00. "Inter City" (SOKO) trains have stops in the following official places: Novi Beograd, Petrovardin, Vrbas Nova, Bačka Topola and Subotica.

Eight "Inter Regio" trains on this route have the following departures: four trains from Belgrade Centar station at 7:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. and four trains from Subotica station at 5:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. "Inter Regio" trains have stops in the following official places: Novi Beograd, Nova Pazova, Stara Pazova, Indjija, Petrovardin, Zmajevo, Vrbas Nova, Lovćenac-Mali Idjoš, Bačka Topola, Žednik; Other Inter Regio trains (number 640, 643, 644, 647, 648, 651, 652, 655, 656 and 657, i.e. trains 615 and 616) will run to/from Petrovaradin station.

The Novi Sad station is not open for the reception and dispatch of tickets until further notice, the company notes.

In the stations: Zmajevo, Vrbas Nova, Lovćenac-Mali Idjoš, Bačka Topola and Žednik, ticket sales will not be organized at the box office or through the ticket machines, and passengers are recommended to buy their tickets via the mobile application. In the Subotica station, tickets are sold in the existing building located in the station area and which is marked. All other trains for the transportation of passengers on the route Belgrade Center-Petrovardin-Belgrade Center (part of Inter Regio trains, all Regio Express and Regio trains) will run according to the valid organization without change and regular ticket prices apply.

On the entire route, from Belgrade to Subotica, the return ticket will cost around 2,000 dinars, announced Vučić after the first ride on the most modern railway route from Novi Sad to the border with Hungary.

Let us remind you that on Saturday, October 4, that section of the high-speed railway Novi Sad-Subotica was opened for freight traffic.

"Everything was done according to world standards, the average speed on the Belgrade-Subotica railway will be between 160 and 180 kilometers per hour, and before the construction of the new railway it was only 40 kilometers per hour," said Vučić.

During the tests conducted by "Deutsche Bahn", the train went 222 kilometers per hour in the fastest part of the railway, but for passenger traffic the speed will be limited to 200. The faster section is Novi Sad - Subotica, where the average speed is around 180 kilometers per hour.

The President of Serbia expects the Belgrade-Budapest railway to be put into operation for freight traffic within two months, and for passenger traffic at the end of February or the beginning of March next year.

"At the end of February or the beginning of March, we will go directly to Budapest. Now we have to solve a lot of mutual issues, due to staying at the EU border, to see how to solve these problems in the best and simplest way, so that we can actually arrive in Budapest in two hours and 45 minutes, which is more than twice as long as it takes to get to Budapest by car now," said Vučić.

"We are working with Hungary to reduce the waiting time at the borders as much as possible. We are working with them to get their police to come to us, so that ours will be with them. We will also work together with them, through the fraternal relations we have with the Hungarians, on the issue of border control, which is quite important for us," he said.

33 culverts with a total length of about 800 meters were built, as well as 14 underpasses. 302 switches were installed on the new railway, while for the construction of the high-speed railway it was necessary to do about eight and a half million cubic meters of earthwork and use 762,000 cubic meters of concrete. By the end of November 2024, the physical works necessary for putting the Novi Sad - Subotica section into traffic were basically completed.

Testing

All measurements and technical parameters showed then that the high-speed railway from Novi Sad to Subotica meets all European technical railway standards, especially the requirements for a speed of 200 kilometers per hour in operation. The TSI certificate was obtained from the body for assessing compliance with EU regulations, which means that the Novi Sad - Subotica high-speed railway fully meets the requirements of the Technical Specifications for the Interoperability of EU Railways.

In addition, the DeBo standard of conformity was obtained by the relevant Serbian institutions, which means that the high-speed railway Novi Sad - Subotica meets the national standards of the Republic of Serbia. The newly built high-speed railway also received an AsBo report on the safety assessment of the system.

The contractor was the Chinese consortium China Railway International and China Communications Construction Company, and more than 200 subcontractors and suppliers were engaged in the implementation of the project, mostly from Serbia, but a large number of them from EU countries as well.

Among the suppliers and subcontractors engaged were companies from Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France, Slovenia, Poland and Croatia, as well as Serbian representative offices of companies from France, Turkey, Germany, Greece and Spain.

About 100 engineers with licenses from the Serbian Chamber of Engineers were engaged, in the capacity of responsible contractor and supervisory authority. The entire Belgrade - Subotica - Kelebija state border is 183 kilometers long. The high-speed railway Belgrade Center - Novi Sad was put into regular traffic on March 20, 2022.

In three and a half years, that is, until September 14 this year, close to 12.5 million passengers traveled on it, 6.1 million of them on the most modern "falcon" train. It is planned that the "falcon" train between Novi Sad and Subotica will travel for 41 minutes.

It will soon take 64 minutes to travel from Belgrade to Bačka Topola, and 53 minutes to Vrbas. International passenger trains from Novi Sad to Subotica will cross the new section in 42 minutes. Freight trains will go a little slower, as their maximum speed will be up to 120 kilometers per hour.