After 27 years of no railway traffic between Sarajevo and Bihac, the first train on this route was launched on Monday, connecting Bosnia's capital with northwest Bosnia. On this occasion, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity railway company's CEO, Enis Dzafic, told N1 that the ride would take 8 hours to complete.

“The trains carrying passengers on this route are the Talgo trains which also have sleeping cabins, where passengers can sleep during the ride. This was done in order to provide additional comfort to customers, because the ride takes so long, and because our competition are other mass carriers who can take their passengers to Bihac much faster than trains can – but with less comfort,” Dzafic said.

“The reason the train ride takes so long is the bad railway infrastructure which has never been seriously overhauled since the end of the 1992-95 war in Bosnia. Regardless, we are optimistic that citizens will opt for the train ride,” Dzafic added.

The Sarajevo-Bihac line required the reconstruction of the electric grid of the railway network in the wider Bihac area in the Una-Sana Canton.

The railway network in Bosnia and Herzegovina is generally in poor condition, and is used mainly for cargo transport. Passenger transport is on a modest scale, with no direct passenger lines from Bosnia serving foreign destinations.

Follow N1 via mobile apps for Android | iPhone/iPad | Windows| and social media on Twitter | Facebook.