Trams in Sarajevo are a part of the public transport system in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

, the capital city of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. The system is run by KJKP GRAS Sarajevo, which also operates

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or trol ...

and

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

routes in the city. As of 2010, the Sarajevo tram system consists of seven lines, running along a single route with a -long branch to the city's

main railway station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

''(Željeznička Stanica)''. It primarily serves as an east-west link from the city centre (

Baščaršija Baščaršija (Cyrillic: Башчаршија; ) is Sarajevo's old bazaar and the historical and cultural center of the city. Baščaršija was built in the 15th century when Isa-Beg Ishaković founded the city. Baščaršija is located on the n ...

) to the western suburb of

Ilidža Ilidža ( sr-cyrl, Илиџа, ) is a town and a municipality located in Sarajevo Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has a total population of 66,730 with 63,528 in Ilidža itself, and is ...

History

Opened on New Year's Day in 1885, the

tramway was the testing line for the tram in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and operated by horses. Originally built to , the present system was upgraded to in 1960. The trams played a pivotal role in the growth of the city in the 20th century. During the

Siege of Sarajevo The Siege of Sarajevo ( sh, Opsada Sarajeva) was a prolonged blockade of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War. After it was initially besieged by the forces of the Yugoslav People's Army, the city was then be ...

of 1992-1995, trackwork and numerous vehicles were badly damaged. The tram operation stopped on April 15 1992, 9 days after the siege started, and resumed despite the dangers of the ongoing siege on April 15, 1994. The vehicles are once again operational though marks remain on some vehicles.

System

The route lies on the main

boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway. Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls. In American usage, boulevards may ...

of Sarajevo, which is named (from west to east) first Bulevar Meše Selimovića (formerly ''6 Proleterske Brigade''), from Vila Čengić then Zmaj od Bosne (formerly ''Vojvode Radomira Putnika''). From the district Marijin Dvor it runs a loop in a counter-clockwise direction along the Miljacka river on the street called Obala Kulina bana (formerly: Obala Vojvode Stepe Stepanovića). It proceeds to the terminus Baščaršija. The route then turns back towards Marijin Dvor on the northern parallel road Maršala Tita. Six routes are presently in operation on the system, often only a specific section of the track. Only route 3 operates the entire length. *Route 1: Željeznička stanica – Baščaršija *Route 2: Čengić Vila – Baščaršija *Route 3: Ilidža – Baščaršija *Route 4: Ilidža – Željeznička stanica *Route 5: Nedžarići – Baščaršija *Route 6: Ilidža – Skenderija *Route 7: Nedžarići – Skenderija (currently not running) In the early 1990s, construction work started to expand the tram network from Nedžarići to

Dobrinja Dobrinja ( sr-cyrl, Добриња) is a neighbourhood in the western outskirts of Sarajevo, part of the municipality of Novi Grad. It is estimated to have a population of 25,063 inhabitants. Its name comes from the short river ''Dobrinjka'' th ...

, which was at the time served by a trolleybus system. Work stopped in 1992 when

the siege ''The Siege'' is a 1998 American action thriller film directed by Edward Zwick. The film is about a fictional situation in which terrorist cells have made several attacks in New York City. The film stars Denzel Washington, Annette Bening, Tony Sh ...

started, which was also when most of the vehicles and infrastructure was damaged. At Nedžarići, it is possible to see tracks leading towards a planned, but never finished boulevard that would link towards Dobrinja. No work has been done in the said neighborhood to prepare access of trams there due to the start of the war, so these are the only traces of the planned extension.

Rolling stock

In 1958, Sarajevo bought 50 relatively modern PCC-cars from

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, renumbered in the 1-50 series. 21 more PCC-cars from Washington followed in 1962, numbered 51-71. These 71 PCC-cars were built between 1941 and 1944 by the

St. Louis Car Company The St. Louis Car Company was a major United States manufacturer of railroad passenger cars, streetcars, interurbans, trolleybuses and locomotives that existed from 1887 to 1974, based in St. Louis, Missouri. History The St. Louis Car Company ...

. Between 1967 and 1969, 20 of these streetcars were transformed into 10 articulated cars series 100-109. The fleet in use on the network are Tatra K2

articulated An articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent pivot joint in its construction, allowing it to turn more sharply. There are many kinds, from heavy equipment to buses, trams and trains. Steam locomotives were sometim ...

trams from the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, delivered in the 1970s and early 1980s. Later these trams have been joined by more modern vehicles in recent times. In 2008,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

donated 16 old trams to Sarajevo.

Gallery

File:Sarajevo Tram-206 Stuck-in-snow 2012-02-05.jpg, Trams stopped running due to heavy snowfall, at Marijin Dvor on February 5, 2012 File:Sarajevo Tram-300 Line-5 2011-11-09 (2).jpg, Tram #300 past Socijalno File:Sarajevo Tram-602 Line-3 2012-03-20.jpg, Tram #602 past Park File:Sarajevo Tram-511 Line-3 2012-03-18.jpg, Tram #511 at Holiday Inn File:Sarajevo Tram-712 Line-1 2012-02-02.jpg, Tram #712 at Holiday Inn File:Sarajevo Tram-707 Line-4 2012-01-09.jpg, Tram #707 past Univerzitet File:Sarajevo Tram-506 Line-3 2013-10-14.jpg, Tram #506 at Vijećnica File:Sarajevo Tram-805 Line-3 2012-01-23.jpg, Trams #805 and #812 at Socijalno File:Sarajevo Tram-212 Line-3 2011-11-08.jpg, Tram #212 at Holiday Inn File:Sarajevo Tram-508 Line-3 2012-03-18.jpg, Tram #508 running westbound at Marijin Dvor, File:Sarajevo Tram-501 Line-3 2013-11-16.jpg, Tram #501 past Park File:Sarajevo Tram-261 Line-3 2013-10-14.jpg, Tram #261 at Marijin Dvor, File:Sarajevo Tram-255 Heavy-snowfall 2012-02-03.jpg, Heavy snowfall on February 3, 2012 File:Sarajevo Tram-501 Line-3 2012-02-09.jpg, File:Sarajevo Tram-209 Line-2 2012-02-07.JPG, Image:Sarajevo Tram-603 Line-3 2012-01-25.jpg, Satra III Image:Satra III.jpg, Refurbished Tatra 3-carriage tram on display Image:Sarajevo tram Amsterdam 2011.jpg, Former Amsterdam tram Image:Sarajevo Tram-508 Line-3 2011-11-09.jpg, Satra II Image:Sarajevo Tram-713 Line-4 2012-03-12.JPG, Tram #713, Line #4, March 12, 2012 Image:Sarajevo Tram-209 Line-3 2012-03-16.JPG, Tram #209, Line #3, March 16, 2012 Image:Ilidza Tram-713 Line-4 2012-03-22.JPG, Ilidža tram terminus with #713 ready for departure to the Railroad Station Image:Sarajevo Tram-501 Line-3 2011-12-14.JPG, Tram #501, Line #3, December 14, 2011 Image:Sarajevo Tram-291 Line-1 2011-12-18.JPG, Tram #291, Line #1, December 18, 2011 Image:Sarajevo Tram-505 Line-3 2012-01-28.JPG, Tram #505, Line #3, January 28, 2012 Image:Sarajevo Tram-802 Line-3 2012-01-05.JPG, Tram #802, Line #3, January 5, 2012 Image:Sarajevo Tram-277 Depot 2011-09-23.JPG, Tram #277 leaving the tram depot, September 23, 2011 Image:Sarajevo Tram-231 Line-1 2011-09-24.JPG, Tram #231, Line #1, September 24, 2011 File:Sarajevo tram (2010).JPG, Tram #710 Sarajevo (in 2010) File:Sarajevo Tram-Triangle-Nedzarici 2011-10-20.jpg, The remains of the planned extension to Dobrinja, in the background are the remains of the Sarajevo Retirement Home, which was very new at the time of the siege File:Trams in Sarajevo.svg, Trams in Sarajevo map File:Sarajevo Tramway Lines 3.svg, Trams in Sarajevo map File:Tramway map Sarajevo.png, The unofficial Sarajevo tram network map

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* Jan Čihák: Sarajevo Trams and Trolleybuses, , bahnmedien.at, Vienna/Austria

External links

*
KJKP GRAS d.o.o. Sarajevo

Track plan of the Sarajevo tram system

Sarajevo public transport – Amazing tips to get around
{{Sarajevo

Transport in Sarajevo Railway lines opened in 1885 760 mm gauge railways in Bosnia and Herzegovina