After several false announcements, the Sarajevo - Belgrade railway is back in business. Some foreign media have romanticized this but I must say I find it rather confusing.
The luxurious Olympic Express, coined so after being garnished with a red carpet, upscale dining and stewardesses in smart uniforms for the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, is now an outdated train segmented into 3 mismatched cars, each under the jurisdiction of a different
railway company. Moreover, the Bosnian-Serb car disconnects where the Serbian part of Bosnia ends, never even reaching Sarajevo.This faded train resembles the chaos that captured Yugoslavia during the war. What used to be a cross country train now has to cross two borders and two (often very unpleasant) passport controls. It runs once a day, rather than 3 times as was the case prior to the war. Its passengers - once cheerful party-goers, skiers and businessmen - have transformed into none but a few worn out faces.
Smoking is kind of allowed in the cafe car... While travelers may light up when passing Serbia and Bosnia, they are forbidden to do so when the train is crossing the more European, Croatian non-smoking tracks.
18 years after its last run through Yugoslavia, the Olympic Express is slower. Due to the severe warfare damages that the railway, bridges and facilities underwent, it now takes over 2 additional hours to get from Belgrade to Sarajevo. So finally, the results of our war have in some way been quantified: we are two hours further apart, whatever that means.
Its windows smeared and seats shabby, the train looks nothing like its old self, when it was called the Olympic Express and trumpeted as the pride of the Communist-run nation.
www.guardian.co.uk , 13 December 2009
It's rusty for sure, but such a good "make-up" between two lost lovers... ahahaha!!!
ReplyDeletei think its essential to have this train- no matter how rusty, broken down, and un-sexy it might be...
I didn't mean to criticize that it is running, just to comment on all of the bizzare circumstances. But I must admit that it was even more bizzare not to have it running at all for so long...
ReplyDeleteyes,it is quite strange for it not to exist. However it was acknowledging something quite obvious- which is the existing tension between the two cities/countries/people- its almost as if it's saying "let's not kid ourselves- everything is not okay". It's a Balkan trait (one which is arguiably good)- tell it like it is.
ReplyDeleteNow that its there, its showing that the new generation is just letting go of the old grudges. hopefully.
Now, explain to me, why a plane Sofia- Belgrade doesn't exist? or for that matter, a direct bus, Sofia- Belgrade????