Passenger rail traffic on the Sarajevo-Čapljina-Sarajevo route was restored today after a four-month break caused by severe damage to the track in Donja Jablanica.
Trains will operate according to the 2024/2025 FBiH Railways timetable, with departures from Čapljina at 6:06 and 16:42 and departures from Sarajevo at 07:15 and 16:46.
The railway line, which was suspended due to the devastating floods that hit Bosnia and Herzegovina, has been restored four months later. Freight and passenger trains are expected to be put into service in the coming days.
Sleepers and rails have been installed, the contact network and cable infrastructure facilities have been repaired, the bridge load has been tested and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Railways train has been running again. However, many say that it has been too long to wait, and thanks to the Turkish company Çengiz, which donated and completed the repair, trade between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the countries of the region will be possible again.
The locals of Jablanica still remember the scene of the destroyed railway line and the day when it was cut off, as they say the lifeblood. The fact that it was renewed means a lot.
The next step is the technical acceptance of the building, announced the Railways of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Then the use permit of the Federal Ministry of Spatial Planning is awaited.
While we wait for the smooth traffic of freight and passenger trains, the Railways of the Federation record a daily loss in traffic of up to 280 thousand marks.
“I think that the million-dollar damage to the economy and to the Federation Railway company could have been avoided, it could have been reduced. I spoke with some who said that their transport costs, these are companies that produce and export, that their transport costs for some have gone up to 16 times compared to what they had before the railway cut”, said the Minister of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina Edin Forto.
Due to the interrupted railway traffic in Jablanica, the Railways of the Republika Srpska were also at a loss, given that, as they say, they were joint partners in the transport of coal Ploče-Šabac. This company recorded more than 50 thousand marks of losses per day in four months. They say that a joint fight is ahead to return the transport of goods from the port of Ploče to the railways, as well as the renewal of transport contracts.
“In every economically developed country, the railway is the lifeblood of the economy. Perhaps in Bosnia and Herzegovina it is still not at the level of other countries, especially in the European Union, but we want to move in that direction,” said Forto.
