The tram service in the Serbian capital Belgrade has been in urgent need of modernisation for a long time – various improvements are underway for several years already. The procurement of 25 new vehicles from Turkish manufacturer Bozankaya is a further step in the right direction – the first of which arrived in Belgrade on 29 May 2025. The vehicles are 80% low-floor and 30.5 metres long, with six doors for easy access and a total of 48 seats for up to 218 passengers per vehicle. The metre-gauge vehicles are single-unit vehicles like all Belgrade tramcars.
Tramway operation today
The fleet roster of the GSP transport company currently consists mainly of approximately 100 Tatra KT4 YU articulated tramcars, which sometimes run as coupled pairs and are largely worn out after 28 to 44 years of hard continuous operation. In addition, between Monday and Fridays there are usually some 10 to 15 older Düwag and Schindler articulated trams in service – taken over from Basel between 2001 and 2016, some of which are fitted with four-axle trailers ex Basel. They are still a few years older than the Tatras, but despite many years of very good maintenance in Switzerland, they too are definitely very close to the end of their useful life. 30 five-section CAF Urbos III low-floor trams from 2011-12 are also no longer in their very best condition and actually see quite limited use.
The acquisition of further, newer second-hand vehicles from Basel was planned until recently, but in view of EXPO 2027, Belgrade finally declined and put another 100 new vehicles out to tender. They will be able to run in double traction as a 20-metre-long two-section unit for approximately 95 passengers including 30 seated, similar to the KT4 YU today. The result of the tender is still pending.
The infrastructure
The renewal of the infrastructure has begun in various places, but there is still a lot to be done. The poor track situation, especially in the city centre, but also the lack of any traffic light priority and the heavy individual traffic reduce the actual travel speed.
The long suburban line to Knezevac has been out of service for several years, the overhead line is largely missing – so it is doubtful that it will be reopened for the time being. Since autumn 2024, the only connection across the River Sava to the extensive housing development areas of Novi Beograd has been the Most na Ada bridge to the south-west of the city centre. The first new section in decades went into operation here in 2019, not least in anticipation of the demolition of the old, narrow Stari savski most closer to the city centre. Changes to the tram network are expected in a few years’ time, including the construction of the first two metro lines, the preparatory work for which has already begun. Nevertheless, there are far-reaching plans for various line extensions, including the (re)construction of a central city centre axis via Trg Republicke. Trolleybuses run here today.
The future of the trolleybus system
Trolleybus operations were originally to be completely discontinued following decisions made by the city council in autumn 2024, but there was considerable resistance to this, with demonstrations and road closures even taking place in February 2025. Although the overhead line network is in good condition, much remains to be done: The vehicles urgently need to be replaced, as the fleet currently consists of around 70 two-axle trolleybuses, which were delivered by the Belarusian manufacturer Belkommunmash (BKM) in different series in 2004 and 2010/11. In addition, there are a few articulated trolleybuses from the same manufacturer, of which 3-4 are usually used on working days. The experience with the BKM trolleybuses in Belgrade is not particularly good, but some vehicles have recently undergone a thorough overhaul. A tender for new vehicles a year ago was unsuccessful.
The more intensive utilisation of the infrastructure through the future operation of battery trolleybuses with powerful traction batteries is certainly a sensible option. In battery mode, they can travel on sections without overhead contact lines and then recharge their batteries without losing any time when travelling with overhead contact lines. The batteries can therefore also be smaller than those in pure battery buses, of which GSP now has several smaller series in operation – supplied by the manufacturers Higer and Otokar. A reconsideration in the city administration about the long-term future including expansions of the trolleybus system in a modern form is recommended in any case.
Due to construction work in the city centre, only line 40 is currently operated by trolleybuses at regular intervals; the remaining six lines will be operated electrically once the construction work has been completed and the overhead contact line has been renewed.
Free-of-charge travel
Belgrade introduced free travel on all public transport in the city on 1 January 2025. However, the intended increase in passenger numbers, with the effect of relieving the congested roads from private transport, only materialised to a manageable extent, as the buses and trams were already very busy and overcrowding was not uncommon. In addition, off-peak frequencies were thinned out on numerous routes, not least to at least partially compensate for the lack of fare revenue. The success of the ‘free public transport for all’ initiative has therefore – hardly surprisingly – not received everybody’s approval.
