Tender for development of preliminary design for reconstruction of platform section at Vuk Monument Station – Will the platforms finally be lowered to a level of 55 cm?

For years, many things have not been right on the plateau at the Vuk Monument Station and at the railway station of the same name. The plateau is devastated, but there has been no detailed renovation for years. At the station itself, for certain segments of it, such as the escalators and the platform section, necessary works have also been announced for years, but they have not been started without detailed explanations to the public about what is holding them back. The Public Procurement Plan of the Serbian Railway Infrastructure for 2025, as eKapija reported at the beginning of the year, finally includes, among other things, the development of a preliminary design for the rehabilitation of the platform at the Vuk Monument railway station.

Let us remind that it has been known for years that the platforms at this station do not comply with EU standards, of which the association “Po meri metro” also reminded two years ago, pointing out that the only economically justified and logical thing to do was to simultaneously lower the platforms to the prescribed height and install new escalators at this station.

The tender for the development of a preliminary design for the reconstruction of the platforms at the Vuk Monument station has finally been announced. The technical documentation should include a preliminary design, a preliminary project with technical control, a feasibility study, an environmental impact assessment study with a decision on acceptance, and a main design.

Bids may be submitted until September 15, and more details (in Serbian) can be found HERE.

Let us remind that the association “Po meri metro” pointed out two years ago that due to the change in the height standards of railway platforms and their alignment with EU standards, it had been adopted that the height of all railway platforms in Serbia be 55 centimeters. However, at the Vuk Monument and Pancevo Bridge stations, the height is 95 centimeters. Therefore, new trains operating between cities in Serbia cannot stop there, but only old blue RVR sets that are used only for the BG Voz system.

Let us also remind that, according to eKapija’s findings, in 2023, the Serbian Railways Infrastructure company planned to lower the platform to a level of 55 cm at the Vuk Monument Station, which is necessary to serve trains with a lower floor, which Srbijavoz currently uses.

And when it comes to escalators at this station, the Procurement Plan of the Serbian Railways Infrasturcture company for this year, namely for the third quarter, envisaged the procurement of urgent maintenance of escalators. In the spring of 2023, it was planned to start the work of replacing the existing escalators at this station and that this job would last as long as 72 weeks, which would have required the closing of the station for passengers, but everything was ultimately suspended.

The existing escalators at the Vuk Monument Station were installed by the manufacturer Eskalator from Saint Petersburg in 1995 and have only been overhauled once.

D. A.

Infrastruktura Železnice Srbije Beograd

Infrastruktura železnice Srbije ad Beograd

Serbian Railways Infrastructure

Vuk Monument underground railway station

preliminary design for reconstruction of platforms at Vuk Monument station

replacement of escalators at Vuk Monument station