Analysis of the Justification for the Abolition of the Sarajevo 0.76m Station, January 1968.

Dear visitors of the vremeplov.ba portal!

On this occasion, exclusively through an archival document, we are providing a “final” response regarding the justification for the abolition of narrow-gauge tracks 0.76 meters wide in the city of Sarajevo, which included the narrow stations of Sarajevo, Alipašin Most, and Bistrik. The adoption of the modernization program of JŽ in 1964 also involved the widespread abolition of narrow and unprofitable railways throughout Yugoslavia. At that time, the Sarajevo Railway Transport Company established the “Bureau for Studies and Analyses”, whose primary task was to conduct a “thorough” analysis to examine the basic elements and indicators of the unprofitability of this type of traffic, which ultimately would influence their proposal for the final abolition of the narrow-gauge railway track junction in Sarajevo.

It should be noted that with the construction of standard gauge railways Šamac – Sarajevo in 1947 and the normalization of the Sarajevo – Ploče line in 1966, the old Sarajevo railway station and Alipašin Most station, along with all existing infrastructure, became bottlenecks related to passenger dispatch, express, and freight handling. This was all due to the elimination of narrow-gauge tracks toward Mostar and Zenica, and later Visegrad. Additionally, a series of narrow industrial and manipulation tracks are proposed to be dismantled and replaced with standard gauge tracks to serve larger “work organizations” located near the railway hub, such as Energoinvest, RO Vaso Miskin Crni, Wire and Nail Factory, Paromlin, Tobacco Factory, and others.

Reading the text from the conducted analysis of the mentioned bureau, you can notice a “bright spot.” Namely, it was observed that the Bistrik station in recent years (i.e., 1965/66 and 1967) shows a trend of increase in the number of dispatched passengers, as well as in the total loading and unloading of cash and freight goods. Essentially, the Bistrik station is kept alive and it is proposed that it remain open for passenger traffic towards Višegrad. The only condition is that modular facilities be built for passengers, luggage, and express goods at a new location (since the narrow stations Sarajevo and Alipašin Most will definitely be discontinued), and the most favorable option chosen is the location at Čengić Vila. Likewise, the Bistrik station, with its freight warehouse of that time, could not meet the projected needs for handling goods, so the construction of a new modular freight warehouse is proposed. As is well known, the Bistrik station (built and commissioned in 1906) ceased operations in mid-1978.

Brief history: The narrow gauge line Sarajevo – Ploče was gradually discontinued on June 1, 1967; Zenica – Doboj on April 1, 1968; Sarajevo – Lašva on May 26, 1969; Lašva – Zenica on June 1, 1975; Gabela – Dubrovnik on June 1, 1976; and Sarajevo (Čengić Vila) – Visegrad on August 1, 1978. Essentially, the day, month, and year of the final discontinuation of the narrow gauge railway in Bosnia and Herzegovina is considered to be August 1, 1978, when the last train from Visegrad station arrived at Čengić Vila station.

Finally, how can we not remember the effort of our grandfathers and fathers who, in their sweat, built and laid the foundations of these tracks and others who operated and maintained them. How can we not remember the railway crews at many stations during the arrival and dispatch of trains, led by stationmasters, the piercing sound of the train dispatcher’s whistle, conductors with booming voices and shouts of “Entry, please,” and train engineers who, at that very moment, release excess steam from the boiler and signal the departure of the train with a sharp locomotive whistle. Yes, from the bottom of my heart, a big THANK YOU to all of them.

Dear visitors, we highly recommend reading the provided archival document to briefly remind ourselves or (younger) to learn something about the railway history of our homeland.