Trams in Belgrade


The Belgrade tram system is a 1000 mm gauge network that in 2021 had 12 routes running on of double track in the city of Belgrade, Serbia. It is operated with 231 trams, including ČKD Tatra KT4, CAF Urbos, and Duewag Be 4/6 trams. The first tram line was introduced on 14 October 1892. In the late 2000s, complete reconstruction of the system commenced.

Lines

As of 2026, there are thirteen tram lines: nine serve the larger part of the city on the right bank of Sava, while four reach New Belgrade on the left bank. All trams run during the daytime: the once-existing night lines have been abolished.
  • Line 2 - Pristanište - Vukov spomenik - Pristanište. A famous circle line introduced in 1892, Line 2 runs around the city centre. It's been temporarily out of operation since 2025.
  • * Line 2L - Pristanište - Trg Slavija - Gospodarska mehana. Acts as a temporary replacement for a part of line 2.
  • Line 3 - Omladinski stadium - Kneževac. It was launched in 1894, reaching from Terazije to Topčider and temporarily closed in 2019 due to repairs on Patriarch Pavel Boulevard. It was supposed to be re-opened in summer 2024, but the reconstruction is yet to be finished.
  • * Line 3A - Beograd na vodi - Kneževac. It was established as a bus line replacing a part of Line 3 in 2019.
  • *. The line was established on 12 July 2018 alongside bus line 38A to reach the station which then briefly served as the starting point of the Belgrade–Bar railway. The line was discontinued alongside line 3 in 2019, while the station was closed down in 2021.
  • Line 5 - Kalemegdan /Donji Grad/ - Ustanička.
  • Line 6 - Tašmajdan - Ustanička.
  • Line 7 and Line 9 were introduced on 1 January 1958, becoming the second and the third lines to connect the older part of the city to New Belgrade after Line 11. Both lines were re-routed to the Ada Bridge on 2 November 2024 after the Old Sava Bridge was shut down as 7L and 9L, respectively.
  • * Line 9A - Slavija Square - Block 72. This bus line was launched on 2 November 2024 to cover the area near Ušće and Blocks 21, 22 and 23 previously served by lines 7 and 9.
  • Line 8 - Omladinski stadion - Banjica. Initially introduced in the late 1970s, it was shut down during the sanctions in the 90s. The line was reintroduced on 1 February 2026 with a slightly different route.
  • Line 10 - Kalemegdan /Donji Grad/ - Banjica.
  • Line 11 - Kalemegdan /Donji Grad/ - Block 45. It was established in 1984 as the first line reaching New Belgrade, having crossed Sava via the Old Sava Bridge. It was discontinued in 2012 because of low ridership and subsequently re-established in 2015, this time via the new Ada Bridge. Temporarily out of operation since 2025.
  • Line 12 - Omladinski stadion - Banovo brdo. It was first introduced in 1932 between Prince Mihailo Monument and Dedinje By 1986, it was re-directed to connect Dimitrije Tucović Square, now known as Slavija Square to Banovo brdo.
  • Line 13 - Banovo brdo - Block 45. Likewise, it was originally launched in 1932 to serve older parts of Čukarica and then discontinued in 1969. It was reestablished in 1986 as a line between Banovo brdo and Kalemegdan, and then re-routed again towards Block 45.
  • Line 14 - Ustanička - Banjica.

    Former lines

On current infrastructure

These lines ran on the current tram network, all these services were discontinued in the early 1990s.
Another line was discontinued in 2012 after re-routing of the line 12 in Resavska street and extension of the line 3 to Omladinski Stadion through Slavija Square:
  • Line 7L: Tašmajdan – New Belgrade Block 45
Another 2 lines were discontinued in 2006 after moving on night buses:
  • Line 7N: Block 45 – New Belgrade – Railway Station – Slavija Square – Vukov Spomenik – Ustanička
  • Line 9N: Block 45 – New Belgrade – Railway Station – Slavija Square – '''Banjica'''

    Pre-WW2

Overall, Belgrade had 12 tram lines by the end of 1938, with 11 criss-crossing the city and the twelfth one reaching towards Zemun.
  • Line 1: Kalemegdan - Slavija Square. It was the first line line ever launched in Belgrade in 1892, running until 1947, when it was discontinued and replaced by a trolleybus. The line was briefly restored in 1978 to reach from Kalemegdan to Rakovica and then extended to Kneževac, but was shut down again in 1985.
  • Line 1A: Savinac - Prištinska.
  • Line 2: King Dušan Street - Slavija - King Dušan Street. Just like today, it was a circular line, reaching Pristanište, the main railway station and then going to the Slavija Square via Nemanjina Street. From there, it headed towards modern-day Vukov spomenik, before circling back towards Dorćol and the main power plant.
  • Line 3 - Prince Mihailo Monument - Topčider.
  • Line 6 - Prince Mihailo Monument - King Alexander Settlement.
  • Line 7 - Kalemegdan - New Cemetery.
  • Line 9 - National Theatre - Prince Paul Settlement. It was first launched in 1925 and eventually extended to Prince Mihailo Monument, before being closed down in 1939 and replaced by a bus line.
  • Line 9A - Prince Paul Settlement - New Cemetery.
  • Line 10 - Slavija Square - to Kraljice Marije suburb.
  • Line 12 - Prince Mihailo Monument - Dedinje. Going across the modern Theodore Dreiser Street, it was known for its views towards Sava and Danube from Topčidersko brdo. It suffered from two accidents owing to its hilly route before the war and then a third one during the occupation, which led to it being discontinued in 1942.
  • Line 13 - Gospodarska mehana - Čukarica.
  • Line 14 - Belgrade - Zemun. Line 14 was the first and as of today only tram line to connect the city to Zemun, crossing Sava via the King Alexander Bridge. It was launched on 5 November 1935, precisely 17 years after Serbian troops entered Zemun. The line had first been 6.2 kilometres long and had had seven stations, the first one being the House of the National Assembly; it was subsequently extended towards the New Cemetery, becoming the longest public transit line in Belgrade at the time. There were also plans for the line to go below the city downtown: if they had ever been realized, it would have been the beginning of Belgrade's metro.

    Discontinued prior to WW2

  • Line 4 - Prince Mihailo Monument - Gospodarska mehana
  • Line 5 - Kalemegdan - Main Railway Station - Kalemegdan. Another circular line was planned as a narrower version of the 2 in its northern parts.
  • Line 8 - Terazije - New Cemetery. Originally numbered 5, this line irregularly appeared until around 1936.
  • Line 11 - Terazije - Pristanište. The tracks, going across Jug Bogdanova street, were placed in 1930, but the line wasn't opened until three years later.

    History

From 1892 to World War I

Belgrade administration signed a contract with Periklos Tziklos from Milan, Italy, in 1891, regarding construction of long tram grid. Tziklos headed the Serbian-French Society and was concurrently awarded with the concession on introduction of the electricity in Belgrade.
On 14 October 1892, the first tram line in Belgrade was opened. It went from Kalemegdan to Slavija and was horse-powered. A large festivity was organized in the city for this occasion and two cars were placed in front of the municipal building. First passengers were municipal president Milovan Marinković and members of the municipal administration. The tram started its inaugural ride at 11:00 AM, in the direction of the central Terazije square, where several thousand of citizens gathered to greet "city train", and where the Metropolitan of Belgrade, Mihailo Jovanović, blessed the first tram.
The line had a total of 8 cars, operated by two horses each. The interval between the cars was 10–12 minutes and the total duration of the line was 18 minutes. Each car had 6 horses assigned to it, which changed shifts at every 2 hours. There were no designated stops except at the terminuses. The passengers were simply stopping the trams wherever they needed to get on or off. Each car had room for 16 sitting and 16 standing passengers. Second line was Slavija-Belgrade Central railway station-Sava Port, and the third was Terazije-Belgrade New Cemetery.
First chief of the tram transportation in Belgrade was Czech émigré Vinčenc Blažek, while the treasurer was Jean Salot from France. The horses were stationed in the tram depot, built along the Tsarigrad Road, modern Depo in Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra. The complex was called "tram stables". Despite the introduction of the electricity powered trams two years later, the horses continued to be used until 1904.
The first electric line was introduced on 5 June 1894. The first electric line connected Terazije, the very downtown of Belgrade, with Topčider, at the time a suburban forest and an excursion area. By the second half of the 1890s, the city already had of tracks. The route to Topčider went down the steep Topčider Road, which caused frequent derails of the trams and subsequent constant complains from the citizens. Then for about 10 years, from the end of 1894, there were no works on modernization and widening of the tram system. It was not until 1903, when the operations related to the construction and exploitation of tram transport and electric lighting were passed, that the electrification of tram lines sped up.
In 1894, the first strike occurred, which halted trams for several days. Employees had only 2 days off in a month and the bosses wanted to abolish that, too. In the end, the company raised wages for 10 dinars per month. Citizens often made official complaints to the city regarding trams. Main complaints were: that trams were getting late already at the start; general unreliability of the organized transportation; deliberate reducing of number of the cars by the Society, below the number of trams stipulated by the contract with the city; frequent stopping of the trams due to the voltage and ensuing fighting with the conductors which were supposed to refund the passengers in these cases but were refusing to do so; inadequacy of the "summer cars" and "winter cars". According to the archived complaints, a major problem was height of the kids. Children lower than a meter weren't paying the ticket. The conductors had a special stick to measure the children, but the parents often claimed that their children were lower than the stick would show.
During 1904, electric trams replaced horse-drawn trams on the Kalemegdan – Slavija and Kafana Žagubica – Električna centrala routes and in 1905 the last ones were replaced at Terazije - New Cemetery route. Apart from performing the function of public transport, “horse trams” were also a focus of great interest in Belgrade at the time and their striking image remained with their contemporaries for a long time. The introduction of the trams in general is today considered as a major step in the modernization of Belgrade, and victory of "Europe over the Orient".
Despite the frequent friction between the city and the Society, the contract was expanded in 1911 to include two more lines: Slavija-Čubura and expansion from the New Cemetery and the Grobljanska Street to Trošarina on Smederevo Road. The Society was obliged to complete works in 8 months, but was late. After continued fights with the city which threatened to activate penalties, the work was finished only in 1913. As the development of the grid became a serious and expensive task, the construction of the tram infrastructure was then assigned to the privately owned company "Belgian Anonymous Society". Twenty years after the introduction of tram transport and 7 years after the electrification of the last line, in 1912 there were 8 tram lines in Belgrade on which a daily average of 24 tram motor cars and 12 trailers operated. The total grid was long. That year 7.5 million passengers were transported.