Bar-Belgrade railway

The Montenegrin section of the Bar-Belgrade railway runs 167.1 km from the coast at Bar to the Serbian border at Vrbnica, climbing from 12 m to over 1,000 m at Kolašin and crossing the Mala Rijeka viaduct 198 m above the river. One night train a day runs through to Belgrade in about 11 hours.

Bar to Vrbnica (Serbian border)

Photo: Kabelleger / David Gubler · CC BY-SA 4.0

The Bar-Belgrade railway crosses Montenegro for 167.1 km, from the Adriatic at Bar, 12 m above the sea, to the Serbian border at Vrbnica, climbing to over 1,000 m at Kolašin with every fourth kilometre in a tunnel. One night train a day covers the full 454.8 km to Belgrade in about 11 hours, and local trains link Bar and Podgorica in about an hour, roughly ten times a day. The part worth riding for its own sake is the climb north of Podgorica, where the line crosses the Mala Rijeka viaduct 198 m above the river. Ride it by day: the night train passes the mountains in the dark.

The white two-storey station building in Bar with a stone-clad ground floor and a Bar sign — Bar railway station, the southern end of the linePhoto: Szombat78, CC0

Key facts

Total length Bar-Belgrade	454.8 km (167.1 km in Montenegro, 287.4 km in Serbia)
Montenegrin section	Vrbnica-Bar
Lowest and highest points	12 m at Bar; over 1,000 m at Kolašin
Tunnels	254, one for every fourth kilometre; the longest, Sozina, is 6.2 km
Power	fully electrified, 25 kV 50 Hz
Built	1966-1979
Mala Rijeka viaduct	498.8 m long, 198 m above the river, longest span 151 m
Through train	train 432: Bar 20:10, Podgorica 21:20, Beograd Centar 07:08 (10 h 58)
Fare Bar-Beograd Centar	€23.80 second class, €35.60 first class, one way

The line was built between 1966 and 1979 and is electrified throughout. From Bar it runs through the Sozina tunnel to Virpazar on Skadar Lake, crosses the plain to Podgorica, then climbs past Bioče and the viaduct to Kolašin, Mojkovac and Bijelo Polje, the last Montenegrin station before Vrbnica. ŽICG, the infrastructure manager, is renewing the Montenegrin section; the current works include 13 steel bridges with a combined length of 2,600 m.

The Mala Rijeka viaduct

The best-known structure on the line stands about 20 km north of Podgorica and 10 km north of Bioče, above the Mala Rijeka river. It is 498.8 m long and 198 m above the water, with a longest span of 151 m: steel trusses on concrete piers, built between 1969 and 1973 to a design by Ljubomir Jevtović. It is listed as a site on the European Route of Industrial Heritage. There is no marked viewpoint from the road, so the train itself is the place to see it; sit on the left going north for the drop to the river.

The Mala Rijeka railway viaduct on tall concrete piers across a deep green valley — The Mala Rijeka viaduct, 198 m above the riverPhoto: Vicuna R from Germany, CC BY-SA 2.0

Which part to ride

Bar-Podgorica is the easy ride: about an hour, around ten local trains a day, €2.80 in second class. The train leaves the coast through the Sozina tunnel, stops at Virpazar for Skadar Lake and reaches Podgorica across the plain.

Podgorica-Kolašin holds the viaduct and most of the height gain: the line stands at 12 m in Bar and at over 1,000 m in Kolašin, and the viaduct comes about 20 km after Podgorica. Local trains to Bijelo Polje serve it; Bar-Bijelo Polje takes 3 h 10 to 3 h 39 and costs €7.20 in second class or €10.80 in first, which buys the whole Montenegrin section in daylight.

The through train to Belgrade leaves Bar at 20:10 and Podgorica at 21:20, so the climb passes mostly in darkness. Use it for the journey itself and the local trains for the view.

The track running along a ledge above a deep valley towards a tunnel, seen from the train window — A Belgrade-Bar train passing Lutovo in the mountains north of PodgoricaPhoto: Orjen, CC BY-SA 4.0

Trains, times and tickets

One through train runs each way all year: train 432 leaves Bar at 20:10, calls at Podgorica at 21:20 and reaches Beograd Centar at 07:08; train 433 leaves Beograd Centar at 19:54 and arrives in Bar at 06:54. In summer a seasonal daytime train towards Subotica is added, leaving Bar in the morning. Within Montenegro, about ten local trains a day run Bar-Podgorica and five Podgorica-Nikšić on the branch line.

One-way fares: Bar-Beograd Centar €23.80 in second class and €35.60 in first; Podgorica-Beograd €21.60 / €32.40; Bar-Bijelo Polje €7.20 / €10.80; Bar-Podgorica €2.80 / €4.20. Couchette and sleeper berths cost extra. Timetables change twice a year; the current departures and fares are on the ŽPCG timetable search at zpcg.me. The ŽPCG information line is +382 20 441 197 (07:00-21:00), Podgorica station +382 20 441 211, Bar station +382 30 301 619. Station phone numbers, the full stop list, border checks and the sleeper are in the Bar-Belgrade train guide.

Getting there

The Montenegrin stations with town pages on this site are Bar, Podgorica, Kolašin and Bijelo Polje. Arriving by yacht: Marina Bar.

Questions

Does the train go to Belgrade Centar?

Yes. Train 432 leaves Bar at 20:10 and reaches Beograd Centar at 07:08; train 433 returns from Beograd Centar at 19:54 and arrives in Bar at 06:54.

How long does Bar-Belgrade take?

About 11 hours on the night train (10 h 58 by the timetable). When the line opened the journey took about seven hours.

Which part is most scenic?

Podgorica-Kolašin: the line climbs from the plain to over 1,000 m and crosses the Mala Rijeka viaduct about 20 km north of Podgorica. Ride it on a daytime local train.