About this journey

Nikšić station sits at the centre of the Nikšićko polje, a karst plain at 640 m elevation ringed by rocky mountain terrain. The line departing southward toward Podgorica has a layered history: the first train reached Nikšić on 12 July 1938 after thirteen years of intermittent construction, and a second narrow-gauge line — built in 1948 to 760 mm Bosnian gauge — was later upgraded to standard gauge in 1965. For much of the following decades the route served primarily as an ore corridor, carrying bauxite toward Podgorica, until chronic underfunding reduced operating speeds to just 30 km/h and ended passenger service entirely in 1992.

A thorough reconstruction and electrification began in 2006, carried out by a Czech consortium at a cost close to €72 million, and the line reopened on 1 October 2012 with speeds raised to up to 100 km/h. The 56.4 km route passes through 12 tunnels with a combined length of 3,439 m and across nine bridges totalling 279 m, mostly following the corridor of the Bjelopavlići plain. Three CAF Civity EMUs — including the ŽPCG 6111 seen here — were ordered specifically to serve this line. At Podgorica station the line converges with the Belgrade–Bar railway and the Podgorica–Shkodër railway, making it one of the principal rail junctions in the western Balkans.