STRANDED on Europe's MOST INCREDIBLE Train Ride!?

Time to experience one of my most memorable journeys yet - for all the right and wrong reasons! Today we'll be taking the sleeper train from Belgrade (Serbia) to Bar (Montenegro), widely known as one of the most spectacular train journeys in Europe, but this journey had a pretty crazy couple of twists.

---

Journey Details:
Origin: Beograd Centar (Prokop)
Destination: Bar
Company: Srbija Voz + ŽPCG
Train: Loco-hauled train with assorted carriages
Accommodation: Double Sleeper Room (T2)
Distance: 468 kilometres / 291 miles
Price: €77.80 (£67.20 / $81.00)
Time: 11h03m + 612 minutes late

---

Find me elsewhere:

[arsenijearsic]

I live in Belgrade and I completely understand your impression. Many of us, Belgraders, are ashamed of the relocation of the central railway station to this 'hole' named Prokop (which literally means 'dug through' in Serbian). Anyway, your videos and reviews are excellent, keep up with the great work!

[Triplex]

15:50 Lutovo station. A station doesn't have to necessarily have platforms for boarding passengers. That station serves as a place where two trains can pass each other because of the single track line and the station has a secondary track for that purpose.
I would love to travel the Belgrade-Bar line one day.

Greetings from Croatia from a train engineer!

[jirislavicek]

I was taking a tour through Balcans in 2000. I arrived too late at the station to catch this Bar train, I think there was one train a day. A taxi driver saw me rushing in just when the train was leaving the platform. He offered me to catch the train in next station, which he did and it took about an hour. He was driving like a maniac and we almost crashed.
The train journey was lovely and scenic.
What happened to the old station is a disgrace, I remember it well. I also remember a overnight train where passengers could take their cars, they were unloading them on the platform. I don't know which direction it came from.

[Hudute]

I can understand you frustrations, but for me the (night train) journeys that go wrong in some way (read: horribly) are always the most memorable.
I, for example, used the old Nairobi-Mombasa lunatic express in 2015, a few months before it was shut down for the modern replacement. About everything that could go wrong did.
We'd already departed Nairobi around 6hours late, and by the time we reached Mombasa had raised that to almost a day late, we'd been stopped by an elephant herd crossing the tracks, been stuck in the Tsavo desert by a long abandoned water stop from the colonial days, abandoned before independence because a freight train broke down on the line. Of course we also plundered all beer stores on the train over the hours as well so were friends when we reached our destination. And all that on a train that had been built in the 50s that had no AC, some working sliding windows, but at least the doors locks were all broken so we could cool off by hanging out of those. In short an absolutely amazing experience and my highlight in years of traveling by train.
I hope you look back on this journey in a similar way!

[funkyhetzer]

As s serb viewer, thank you for making this! Even if you had some problems during the journey, I hope you enjoyed it!

[stephanweinberger]

Lutovo is a crossing station on the single-track line; it's sole purpose is to allow trains to pass or overtake each other. AFAIK it also houses some of the electric supply for that section of track.

[borisangelov]

Every normal person on train delay scheduele: Pretty nervous and frustrated for being late.
Serbs on train delay scheduele: Let's have some sunbathing on the tracks boys!
10:34

[JosipRadnik]

I travelled from my hometown near Basel (Switzerland) to Belgrade back in 1985 when I was a 14 year old boy. I can remember very well that back then, trains in Yugoslavia were not the same standard as in my country, albeit just a little less confortable, a little more crowded and a little slower, but a reliable and confortable means of transport nontheless at a low cost on top of it. It certainly wasn't worse than in Italy. That was then though... some 40 years later, when I had the brilliant idea to redo the trip from Belgrade to Split (Croatia) by train - as I did on one of my holiday trips in the late 80ies - together with my wife, I was shocked how badly run down the railway lines were. The train was trotting along the line, barely surpassing 40 kph at any time. The interior of the coaches was in shambles. We were the only passengers in the whole car. When we left Belgrade station my head was almost struck by a treebranch as strong as my forearm that was scratching along the sides of the coach. By the time we arrived in Zagreb, I had already caught some skin infection. From there on we continued our journey going along the same line as back then (although somewhat kept in good shape) in a smaller but more modern train. The journey was cheap though...
I feel greatly sorry for the loss of the old Station in the center of Belgrade and I don't know if the current solution is better - but whatever it is, I just hope they can bring railways back to life in Serbia (and Bosnia too for that matter) - it is such a shame how they've been ruined over the past decades.
.

[robineur]

The "International Ticket Cupboard" set a warmhearted mood for this epic journey, in my opinion! Thank you for your excellent reporting, Superalbs!

[Xorius]

As a Swedish rail enthusiast it's I feel really nostalgic seeing all those 441 and 461 class locomotives that are based on (and look a lot like) the Swedish Rb series.

[heidirabenau]

This reminds me of Chris Tarrant's Extreme Railway Journeys and in one episode he travels to the Republic of the Congo and his train breaks down in the middle of a tunnel, in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere

[michaelpastras]

The same thing with the station happened in Athens in 2005. The central historic station was abandoned and replaced with a station full of concrete slabs and unfinished platforms. the idea is an amazing station with 2 floors of platforms and great service. It's been 17 years since then and nothing has happened

[Mergatroid]

Coming back to this after having had a 21 hour delay on Amtrak makes me feel like Serbian train reliability isn't so bad

[maimadha]

That's the most amazing European train journey ever

[ironfoxzone]

Here is some information and comments from a local train fan:
1) Belgrade Centar station building has begun construction in september, a private investor will complete it by the next year, the station is being built for 40 years.
2) Elevators are operational at the station, around 70 meters from the main enterance there are 2 temporary elevators installed.
3) The ticket area is temporary, it will all be moved to the new station building with a massive hall, ticket office, ticket machines, airline check in, agencies and so on
4) The railway line is in desperate need of repair (Serbian section), no investment was done in the last 30 years exept the Belgrade-Valjevo section, that is the reason for the slow journey, in the beginning it used to take 7 hrs. Plans are in place do renovate the line, documentation is being prepared as we speak.
5) The reason for the breakdowns are old locos, not designed for the route which is demanding for the locos and drivers alike. High inclines, low speeds and so on put a strain on old locos, and also the train length is a big factor.
6) Due to this incident (which also happend last year but nothing happend) ministry ordered 2 locos to be hauling the train, and also made an agreement with Montenegro so they can send their loco into Serbia. I guess a good thing in this bad experience.
This is everything, if you have any questions feel fre to hit me up

[vojislavpavic]

Regarding Belgrade train station, they finally started construction of the main station building in mid-August, and the building should be finished by November next year. I hope you will come again to check it out.

[tomtonesseppi]

Even our German DB has serious trouble with numerous delays. Beside of a lot of labour-strikes over the last years. I especially like the very British way you commentate the travel! Not just concentrating on the lost time in an overheated carriage but still having an eye on the fantastic landscape. And keeping in mind that the world will definitly NOT come to an end when some hundreds Passengers are 10 hours late somewhere!

[nadblS]

The old railway station in Belgrade has not been demolished, it has been renovated and will become a museum. They did remove the tracks, since it will no longer be a station.

[BogdanDuceac]

But if you arrived on time, you were asleep when you passed that beautiful sight. So it was perfect for your video.😊

[bastiaan]

I took the day train version of this train last summer and have to see that the trip is indeed incredible! Luckily my train was delayed for only an hour which was fine so the trip overall was very nice!