Belgrade soon to temporarily lose all tram traffic – Wooden crossties installed during laying of rails on Ada Bridge cited as reason

Belgrade will soon most likely be completely without tram traffic for an indefinite period of time, meaning that temporarily no tram lines will operate in the capital until further notice, eKapija has learned. The reason for this is not any upcoming multi-day protests in the capital or the reconstruction of several streets in the city, but a problem related to the project to install tram tracks across the Ada Bridge, works that were carried out from March 2018 to the beginning of summer 2019. Because then, for unknown reasons, wooden crossties were installed in this tram corridor instead of concrete ones.

Traffic along this tram corridor has been running more or less smoothly for the past six years, until after a recent tram derailment on the Ada Bridge, the competent teams determined that the problem was precisely the wooden crossties in question, and that that problem on the bridge would most likely not be the only one unless they were removed and replaced with concrete ones. Because, as we were told, the problem is not only that wooden crossties are installed between the rails on the bridge, but also that they were installed in a raw state, i.e., they were not coated with the appropriate treatment oil. Some of the wooden crossties have started to rot naturally, which could be a significant risk if one of them were to break and consequently cause the rails to separate. As we were told, when the rails were installed six years ago as part of that project, they wanted everything to be in accordance with the principles of environmental protection.

The consequence of the decision to install wooden crossties in the last completely new tram corridor in the capital without applying the necessary coatings is that, as we were told, the tram bridge will now have to be closed for at least two months in order to carry out the rehabilitation of the tram track, i.e. so that the wooden crossties can be replaced with concrete ones, which will ensure the safety of tram traffic, which is otherwise limited to a speed of 10 km/h on the bridge itself.

Tram traffic will then have to be completely suspended because the central GSP tram depot Sava is located on the New Belgrade side, from which trams depart every day to all parts of the city. By closing the tram corridor across the bridge in order to rehabilitate it, that depot will be completely cut off from the rest of the city for a certain period of time, given that an alternative tram route across the Sava no longer exists after the work on removing the Old Sava Bridge has begun. Paradoxically, the Ada Bridge was supposed to serve as an alternative tram route across the river until the new Sava Bridge was built.

We have sent questions regarding this oversight from 2019, as well as the necessary rehabilitation of the railroad on the bridge, to the City of Belgrade, but so far there has been no response. On the other hand, an eKapija source from GSP Belgrade confirmed our unofficial findings regarding the problems with the crossties on the tram tracks on the Ada Bridge.

– Some experts from GSP warned about this six and a half years ago, but the City’s management at the time did not listen to our arguments, and we were assured that everything would be fine. However, the process of rotting wooden crossties is increasingly gaining momentum and this can significantly affect the safety of tram traffic, which is why additional speed limits have been introduced that tram drivers are required to adhere to, but GSP’s expert services have also increased monitoring of the tram line and frequent inspections of the condition of the crossties are being carried out, in order to prevent emergency events and tram derailments – our source points out.

A major problem for the organization of tram traffic, the source adds, will certainly be the closing of the track on the Ada Brudge, because they also indicate that there is no alternative to that in order to carry out the work.

– For now, the preparation of technical documentation is underway, and the start of the work itself will depend on the dynamics determined by the City. What is certain is that GSP will have a major problem with the surplus of tram drivers, so all possible options are being considered in order to send a part of the employees on annual leave and paid leave, employ a number who have the appropriate driver categories as helpers in bus operations, and temporarily redirect a certain number of employees to other jobs, such as dispatchers and auxiliary workers in the restaurant within the employee canteen – the source explains.

With the arrival of new Turkish trams, they indicate, this problem is further highlighted, because it would be a very bad look if an incident were to occur on the Ada Bridge with the new trams.

– However, there is no alternative solution at the moment, because GSP does not have the ability to redirect daily tram maintenance, periodic services and inspections to the depot in Dorcol, which has long lacked the capacity and equipment to accommodate and maintain trams, so the suspension of tram traffic on all lines during the works is currently the only solution. What would also be good is for the works to be combined with the rehabilitation of the rail bridge near the old flea market in New Belgrade, i.e. along Antifasisticke borbe Street, because as part of the works on the railway bridge, the suspension of tram traffic is planned on that stretch as well, given that work is planned to repair and strengthen the pillars of the railway bridge under which trams also pass – concludes our source.

The works were completed almost on time, but...

Preparatory works related to the installation of rails on the Ada Bridge began in March 2018, after a tender was held, which was won by Energoprojekt niskogradnja and Colas Rail. The winning consortium was tasked with laying a tram line approximately 2,700 meters long over the Ada Bridge and the northern and southern interchanges and integrating it into the existing line, as well as reconstructing the existing bridges over the Topciderska River and the rail line.

The project envisaged the introduction of new connections, to enable trams from New Belgrade and Banovo Brdo to go directly to Rakovica and the city center.

The consortium was given a deadline of 14 months to complete all works, and they were completed with a slight delay, so instead of May 2019, everything was completed in June of that year, and the new tram line was officially put into service on July 5, 2019.

When traffic was established, one of the main drawbacks of the new corridor was the circulation of trams (going down from and going up to the Ada Bridge) around Block 42 and the New Belgrade railway station, and because the project did not include the construction of a small section of tram track on Marka Hristica Street, which would have avoided this unnecessary circulation of trams.

Dejan Aleksic

Energoprojekt Niskogradnja a.d. Beograd

Ogranak Colas Rail SA Beograd

Old Sava Bridge Belgrade

Ada Bridge Belgrade

installation of rails on Ada Bridge

Ada Bridg tram railroad