Work begins on Belgrade’s oldest bridge - Old Railway Bridge being prepared for detailed reconstruction

Almost seven and a half years since the last passenger train passed through it in June 2018, the workers have arrived at Belgrade’s old railway bridge, the oldest existing connection over the capital’s rivers. As can be seen in the available footage published these days, the workers are removing the most worn-out parts of the bridge structure, which, by all accounts, are preparatory works before the start of a detailed reconstruction after which this bridge should get a new life and a new function - a road intended for pedestrians.

The workers, as can be seen, are removing damaged elements on the bridge, which should be thoroughly repaired, strengthened and made ready for pedestrian traffic during the reconstruction.

Let us remind that less than two years ago, in preparation for the reconstruction, work was carried out, as the Minister of Finance Sinisa Mali indicated at the time, concerning the static testing of the bridge. At the beginning of 2024, it was announced that with the arrival of warm weather, more intensive work on the bridge would begin. A new announcement of the start of work on it, again made by Minister Mali, followed at the end of 2024, but to date this has not happened.

It is planned that the entrance to the bridge from the New Belgrade side will be in the area of the gravel pit and concrete base, the removal of which has begun, and in whose place, according to the announcements also by Mali, a park area is planned.

After the renovation, the plan is for this bridge to be greened and have some kind of rest areas on some of its parts, as well as lookout points. This is what the currently available renderings of the future appearance of the bridge indicate. However, it still remains an open question to what extent all the details from these renderings will be implemented during the reconstruction, because in the previous period, some construction experts indicated that the renderings show a bridge whose width is greater than it actually is in reality.

Even more unrealistic renderings, let’s recall, were the original ones, from a few years ago, which were even more “substantial.” The first renderings showed that this bridge would have cafes and shops built into the sides, but this was then changed (probably because it was realized that its dimensions did not allow for this in reality, ed. eKapija) to give rise to the current renderings that are still published today - a pedestrian bridge with greenery and viewpoints.

However, even before the suspension of rail traffic over this bridge in the summer of 2018, and even after that, it was not entirely certain what its final future purpose would be. Several options were considered - pedestrian-bicycle, tram or just that. What has been a constant throughout this time regarding the first permanent bridge in Belgrade, unlike the Old Sava Bridge, is the survival and remaining of the railway on its pillars.

As for the purpose itself, the authorities in the City of Belgrade announced that there was a chance that this bridge would be converted into a tram bridge in early 2021, when they emphasized that analyses and tests would show whether its structure could be used for tram traffic.

- Experts from the Faculty of Civil Engineering will be engaged for this job, and this procedure will be carried out through the Belgrade Land Development Public Agency. The bridge, which has not been used for several years, needs to be checked for both its structure and statics, and only when all these tests are complete will we know whether reconstruction can begin - the city stated at the time.

That idea, however, turned out not to have been developed in more detail in subsequent years.

The old railway bridge, the oldest route over Belgrade’s rivers, turned 140 this past year. Its construction began in 1882, and it was completed two years later when the Main Railway Station was officially opened in August 1884 and when rail traffic was allowed to pass through it. In the first decades of its existence, the railway bridge was owned by both Serbia and Austria-Hungary. It first sank at the beginning of the Great War. The pillars and foundations were undamaged, so it was soon rebuilt, but the enemy damaged it again during the war. The occupiers made the bridge operational in 1916, when they also built a separate track to Topcider. However, parts of the structure ended up in the Sava again on November 1, 1918, during their retreat. The bridge was made operational again in the early 1920s.

That didn’t last long either. In the first days of the April War, units of our army demolished all the bridges in the capital to slow down the Nazi advance. The Germans nevertheless quickly entered the city and provisionally rebuilt the bridge. A year later, construction of a parallel downstream bridge began in order to increase the flow of traffic. However, the Germans were unable to complete it when the Allied bombings followed in 1944. The old structure was particularly damaged, so in the post-war period, the plan was to make the less damaged downstream bridge operational. It was decided to bring the old bridge back to life and to use parts of the downstream bridge structure for the reconstruction. It was the only railway bridge in Belgrade over the Sava until the new double-track railway bridge, the construction of which began in 1974 and was completed five years later.

Until the closure of the Main Railway Station on June 30, 2018, trains used it, including the latest Stadler trains, which, however, traveled at a speed of 9 kilometers per hour. The last passenger train to cross it was an international train to Budapest.

When it comes to the future fate and purpose of this bridge, it is interesting that, unlike the Old Sava Bridge, it has never been mentioned as an obstacle to the international waterway, especially since the Old Railway Bridge is the lowest bridge in Belgrade, which is easy to see with the naked eye.