Zemun railway station

Zemun railway station (Serbian: Железничка станица Земун, Železnička stanica Zemun) is a rail station in the neighborhood and municipality of Zemun in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is served by BG Voz. The railroad continues to Zemun Polje in one direction, and Tošin Bunar in the other direction. Zemun railway station consists of 10 railway tracks.

Station's building

Old station

The original Zemun railway station was located next to where the modern Hotel Jugoslavija is. It was built in 1883 during the rule of Austria-Hungary, when the railway, which connected Zemun to Novi Sad, was finished. In 1884 the railway was extended across the Sava into the Kingdom of Serbia as the first railway in the country.[1] The very first train from Serbia, with the passengers including King Milan, Queen Natalija and Crown Prince Alexander, stopped at this station on its way to Vienna in 1884.[2]

The station was operational until 1970. To commemorate it, architect Milun Stambolić designed a memorial complex which consists of 5 pillars, which used to hold the station's overhang, and several meters of railroad tracks. The complex is placed on the plateau next to the hotel, on the small elevation above the promenade along the Danube.[1]

History

Construction of the new station began in 1977. It became operational in 1981, but was never fully finished.[3] In 1982 the double-track railway Zemun-Zemun Polje was finished.[4][5]

2010s diffusion of traffic
Platforms

Gradual moving of trains from the Main station to the new, Prokop station began in the early 2016. In December 2017, all but two national trains were dislocated to "Belgrade Center".[6] Problems arose immediately. The Prokop is still not finished, has no station building and a proper access road and public transportation connections with the rest of the city. Additionally, it has no facilities for loading and unloading cars from the auto trains nor was ever planned top have one. Still, in January 2018 it was announced that the station will be completely closed for traffic on 1 July 2018, even though none of the projects needed for a complete removal of the railway traffic are finished. The Prokop is incomplete, a projected main freight station in Zemun is not being adapted at all while there is even no project on a Belgrade railway beltway.[7]

A series of temporary solutions was applied. One is the defunct and deteriorated Topčider station, which was partially revitalized and adapted for auto trains. It has one major flaw, a bad public transportation connection (only one tram line, No. 3), so the railway company asked officially for this problem to be solved. It was announced that the official deadline for the construction of the station building in Prokop is 2 years, however there are no funds for it. A second part of the Kuwaiti loan (€50 million) is still not approved and the needed public procurements will be finished by the end of 2018. Freight station in Zemun will be located between the existing stations Zemun and Zemun Polje, on the area of 35 ha (86 acres). Revitalization of the existing 6 km (3.7 mi) of tracks and 14,500 m2 (156,000 sq ft) of buildings will be followed by the construction of the 17 km (11 mi) of new tracks and additional 18,800 m2 (202,000 sq ft) of edifices. Deadline is also 2 years, but the works will start at the end of 2018. This means that the planned Belgrade railway junction won't be finished before 2021, at best. However, minister for transportation, Zorana Mihajlović, in December 2017 gave conflicting deadlines. She said that the station building in Prokop will be built from April 2018 to April 2019 and that freight station Zemun should be finished by the end of 2018.[7]

The works on the Zemun railway station complex began on 9 September 2019, and the deadline was set for November 2021.[8]

By 2018, the system is envisioned to be centered around the Prokop (passenger traffic), Zemun (freight traffic) and Makiš (Belgrade marshalling yard) stations.[5] In October 2018 a deadline for finishing the Zemun station was extended to early 2022.[3]

2017-2020 railway reconstruction
Station at night

In 2016 a contract was signed in Riga, Latvia, with Chinese companies China Communications Construction Company and China Railways International for the modernization of the Belgrade-Stara Pazova section. The section is 34.5 km (21.4 mi) long and the works include leveling of all crossings, uniformization of platforms, renovation of all station along the route, underground passages, formation of the green areas, etc. Station which will be reconstructed or adapted include New Belgrade, Tošin Bunar (which will be relocated a bit), Zemun, Zemun Polje, Batajnica, Nova Pazova and Stara Pazova, while stops at Altina and Kamendin, also in the Zemun territory, will be added.[9]

The reconstruction has three phases: Prokop-Zemun, Zemun-Batajnica and Batajnica-Stara Pazova. Phase I and III will be done first. The freight and passenger tracks will be separated in the Batajnica-Stara Pazova section. Works started in November 2017 and the entire project should be finished in 36 months, by November 2020. When everything is said and done, the train speed in the Belgrade-Batajnica section will be 120 km/h (75 mph) and in Batajnica-Stara Pazova section up to 200 km/h (120 mph).[9]

See also

References
  1. Zoran Nikolić (2 November 2017), "Beogradske priče: Čudne gradske "granične linije"" [Belgrade stories: Strange city "border lines"], Večernje Novosti (in Serbian)
  2. "Na mestu železničke stanice pre dva veka bila je bara“, 24 Sata, 5 March 2012.
  3. Julijana Simić Tenšić (10 October 2018). "Изградња техничко-путничке станице Земун" [Construction of the technical-passenger station Zemun]. Politika (in Serbian). p. 14.
  4. Daliborka Mučibabić, Dejan Aleksić (30 September 2018). "Нови саобраћајни тунели под водом, кроз брдо и центар града" [New traffic tunnels under water, through the hill and downtown]. Politika (in Serbian).
  5. Dejan Aleksić (8 July 2018). "Železnica u prestonici - Novi Beogradski čvor nije samo "Prokop"" [Railway in the capital - New Belgrade junction is not only Prokop]. Politika (in Serbian).
  6. РТС: "Прокоп од данас главна железничка станица"
  7. Dejan Aleksić (16 January 2018). "Posle 134 godine bez vozova u Savskom amfiteatru" [No more trains in Sava amphitheater after 134 years]. Politika (in Serbian). pp. 01 & 16.
  8. Dejan Aleksić (10 September 2019). "Za dve godine savremena Tehničko-putnička stanica Zemun" [Technical-passenger modern station in Zemun in 2 years]. Politika (in Serbian). p. 15.
  9. Dejan Aleksić (9 August 2018). "Zapuštene stanice dobijaju nov izgled" [Neglected stations get a new look]. Politika (in Serbian). p. 15.

References

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