The train of reconciliation - from Sarajevo to Belgrade

Can a train change the world? Probably not! In the Balkans they try it anyway. The Sarajevo-Belgrade direct connection shell help to bring together the enemies of the past. 

Sarjevo train station - the direct train leaves every day at 11:52

It is just since two years that this train is back on track. For many older people in Sarajevo, the journey is still taboo. For the young generation it is a chance so that Bosnians and Serbs finally come closer again. With its two border crossings and three engine changes within 500 kilometers, the 8 hours trip became also an insiders tip among backpackers traveling in the former Yugoslavia countries.

See our photo-reportage below. A 15 minute film of the trip is aired on the public German channel MDR on 7.7.2012 6pm. For the stream check out MDR Mediathek 

The one-way trip is just 17 Euros. The first 172 km are managed buy Bosnian-Croation Railway Company

The engines used are mostly old swedish models from the 1960s

In Doboj you enter the autonomus Republika Srpska. Engines and stuff are changed.

The first thing the Republika Srpska rail conducters offered us, was a round of Rakia.

For the 1984 Olympic Games in Sarajevo the railway was built as a double line. But from the past glory there is not much left.

After not much more the 50 km and another hour the croatian border is reached. Again: engine change and first time passport control.

There is much time to relax. But most times no restaurant. So bring enough food + drinks.

The Serbian border in Sid. For a last time engine change + passport control.

The land gets wide and flat. Not much to see, but nice sunsets.

Reaching Belgrade train station.

If you do not know what to do in Belgrade check out belgradealtguide. One thing to see - the Nato-bombings from 1999.