Railways of Montenegro
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Railways of Montenegro (Serbian: Жељезница Црне Горе / Željeznica Crne Gore (ŽCG)) is the national railway company of Montenegro. Its main activities are the transportation of passengers and goods, the maintenance of traction and rolling stock, the maintenance and technical supervision of railway lines, the supervision over station objects and plants. The total network is 250 kilometres long and is standard gauge (1435 mm) for its entire length, with 162 of them electrified 25kV/50Hz/AC. Almost 58 km of lines are situated in 121 tunnels. There are also 120 bridges, 9 galleries and 440 culverts.
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[edit] Network
The Montenegrin part of the Belgrade - Bar railway is the backbone of the Montenegrin railway system. It opened in 1979, and then was a state-of-the art railway, with features such as Mala Rijeka viaduct (highest railway viaduct in the world) and the 6.2 km long Sozina tunnel. About one-third of the Montenegrin part of the railway is in tunnel or on viaduct. It is the only railway corridor in Montenegro that is fully electrified: electrification of Podgorica - Nikšić corridor is not complete.
The railway has suffered from chronic underfunding in 1990s, resulting in it deteriorating and becoming unsafe. This culminated in the 2006 Bioče train disaster, when a passenger train derailed, killing 47 passengers. Efforts are being made to thoroughly reconstruct this railway.
The Podgorica - Nikšić railway (56,6 km long) was built in 1948 as narrow gauge railway, and upgraded to normal gauge in 1965. Since 1992, it has been used solely for freight traffic, particularly bauxite from the Nikšić mine to the Podgorica Aluminium Plant, with maximum speed on the railway reduced to 30 km/h. That is about to change, as this part of railway is currently under complete reconstruction and electrification. Passenger traffic is set to start in 2009, and maximum speeds will be between 75 and 100 km/h.
The Podgorica - Shkodër railway, which extends to Tirana, has been used exclusively for freight traffic for some time. Parts in Albania were damaged in 1997, but the connection was restored in 2002. There are plans to reconstruct the railway and re-introduce passenger traffic, as it is important for interests of both Montenegro and Albania.
[edit] Narrow gauge railway
There was once a narrow gauge connection from Nikšić via Trebinje (in Bosnia-Herzegovina) to the Sarajevo-Mostar-Ploce line. There are plans to reconstruct the connection between Nikšić and that line.[1]
[edit] Rail links with adjacent countries
Montenegro only has railway links with Serbia (see Serbian Railways). The link with Albania is only in use for freight. There are currently no railway connections with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.
[edit] Rolling stock
Rolling stock of Montenegrin railways consists of 39 locomotives and 4 EMUs:
- 16 locomotives of class 461(4 are awaiting the general overhaul)
- 4 electric multiple unit sets of class 412/416
- 7 locomotives of class 661 (2 active, 2 are awaiting the general overhaul)
- 4 locomotives of class 644
- 4 locomotives of class 642 (2 active)
- 2 locomotives of class 643
- 6 locomotives of class 744 (none of them is active)
There are also:
- Passenger cars:
- 31 passenger coaches (classes A, AB and B)
- 1 buffet car (class WR)
- 32 sleeping and couchette cars (classes AcBc, Ac, Bc and WLAB)
- 10 car-carrier wagons (class DDam)
- Freight cars:
- 226 wagons (class G)
- 15 wagons (class K)
- 62 wagons (class R)
- 7 wagons (class S)
- 415 wagons (class E)
- 29 wagons (class F)
- 34 wagons (class Z)
- 33 wagons (class U)
- 3 wagons (class H)
[edit] Railways of Montenegro in fiction
James Bond travels on Railways of Montenegro in Casino Royale. The actual train seen in the movie is the Pendolino tilting train of Czech Railways.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official website (in English)
- Map of the railway network
