Belgrade to Niš

The trains to Niš leave from Prokop, and the name says where they are. Prokop means a cut, a place dug through. When Serbia built its first railway in the early 1880s, the station in Belgrade was put down by the Sava on a marsh, Bara Venecija, and the marsh had to be filled before anything could stand on it. The earth and gravel came from a hillside, and what was left behind was a long, steep trench in the ground, which took its name from the digging.

The old station opened in 1884, served the Orient Express and closed on 1 July 2018. The station that replaced it, Belgrade Centre, was built in the trench. So the train to Niš now starts in the hole that was dug to make room for its first terminus, and runs out over the same line, opened in September 1884, that Serbia was required to build as one of the conditions of the treaty that recognised its independence.

From there it is 271 kilometres south: through the hills beyond the city, down the valley of the Velika Morava, up the valley of the South Morava, and into Niš, with its Ottoman fortress, its Roman villa and the tower of skulls from the rising of 1809. Srbija Voz runs four trains a day south and three north, every day of the week, and the fastest takes five and a half hours.

The line was not Serbia's idea. At the Congress of Berlin in 1878 the great powers recognised the principality's independence and, among the conditions, required it to build a railway from Belgrade to the Ottoman and Bulgarian frontiers, so that Vienna would be joined to Constantinople. Serbia had just fought two wars and had no money for it. Austria-Hungary pressed a separate railway convention on Belgrade in 1880, the French Union Générale won the only bid, and Prince Milan laid the first stone at Topčider on 3 July 1881. The first train reached Jagodina in June 1883, and the whole line opened in September 1884. From 1885 the Orient Express used it on one of its routes to Constantinople, with a carriage ride beyond Niš until the rails were joined up, and from 1889 the whole way by train.

Out of the cut

The trains leave Belgrade Centre heading south, through Rakovica and Resnik, where the railway to Bar on the Adriatic turns away to the west; its first section, from Resnik to Vreoci, was opened in 1958. That line has a page of its own, under Montenegro. The Niš line climbs on through Ripanj and Ralja into the hills, and reaches Mladenovac about an hour and twenty minutes out.

The Morava valley

South of Mladenovac and Velika Plana the line runs down the valley of the Velika Morava. Lapovo is the junction where, on the opening run in 1884, the first train stopped for breakfast. Then come village stations such as Brzan and Bagrdan, and the towns of Jagodina, Ćuprija and Paraćin. At Stalać, two Regio trains a day leave for Kruševac.

South of Stalać the line follows the South Morava, past the convent at Đunis and through Aleksinac, and comes into Niš at a station on the western edge of the city.

The trains and the track

The trains photographed on the line in recent years are Srbija Voz's Stadler FLIRT electric units, class 413/417, in red and blue. The fastest service, the InterRegio, takes 5 hours 31 minutes; the Regio trains, calling at every village on the way, take up to 6 hours 38. In the 1920s, after the line was rebuilt for 100 km/h, the Orient Express ran from Belgrade to Niš in 5 hours 35.

The slowness is the track, which in places is limited to 30 km/h or less. A rebuild of the corridor for 200 km/h is being let in sections: the stretch from Stalać to Đunis is already under contract, and in August 2026 a tender went out for 65 kilometres more, from Paraćin to Stalać and from Đunis to Međurovo, just beyond Niš.

Beyond Niš

The old Orient Express route carries on east from Niš to Sofia, but no passenger trains run on it: the line from Sićevo to Dimitrovgrad has been closed for rebuilding since 11 November 2023. Southwards, trains to Leskovac returned on 9 October 2026 after the line was rebuilt. For the Bulgarian end of the old route, see the Sofia–Istanbul Express.

Srbija Voz runs four trains a day from Belgrade to Niš and three back, the same every day of the week. One each way is an InterRegio, which takes 5 hours 31 southbound and 5 hours 09 northbound; the others are Regio trains calling at every station, which take between 5 hours 55 and 6 hours 38. All of them start or end at Belgrade Centre, and there is no change of train.

Times as of November 2026, in the timetable that runs until 12 December 2026. Check departures in Srbija Voz's journey planner (opens in a new tab).

Belgrade to Niš

Niš to Belgrade

The InterRegio calls at Rakovica, Resnik, Ralja, Mladenovac, Smederevska Palanka, Velika Plana, Lapovo, Jagodina, Ćuprija, Paraćin, Stalać, Aleksinac and a handful of smaller stations; the Regio trains stop at more than fifty. From Belgrade Centre the InterRegio reaches Mladenovac in 1 hour 20, Lapovo in 2 hours 16 and Stalać in 4 hours 8.

Since 15 July 2026 a second-class single from Belgrade to Niš has cost 1,322 dinars on a Regio train and 1,412 dinars on the InterRegio. Buying online or in the Srbija Voz app takes 5 per cent off. The Regio trains need no reservation; on the InterRegio a seat can be reserved.

Buy before you board. A ticket bought from the conductor carries a surcharge of 500 dinars if you got on at a station with a ticket office or a ticket machine, and the same applies to a return ticket used on a different train or date from the one printed on it.

Interrail and Eurail passes cover the Regio trains. Interrail's list of railway companies includes Srbija Voz's Regional trains in both the Global Pass and the One Country Pass for Serbia, with no reservation needed. The list does not name the InterRegio, so a pass holder can count on three trains south and two north.

For this journey alone a pass is not worth buying: the fare is about 1,300 dinars. It is worth having only if you are already travelling around Serbia on one.

Pass conditions checked against Interrail's railway-companies page, last updated 21 October 2026. Conditions change with each season, and the pass issuer's page is the one that binds.

Niš is the reason to make the trip: an Ottoman fortress on the Nišava, a Roman emperor's villa on the eastern edge of the city, and the Skull Tower. Prince Lazar's churches and a pilgrims' convent lie along the way, the convent beside a station on the line and Lazarica at the end of the branch train from Stalać.

For Belgrade, where the journey begins, see the Soko to Novi Sad, which also starts at Belgrade Centre.

At five and a half to six and a half hours each way, the journey is not a day trip. Stay in Niš: the InterRegio arrives at 21:11, and the morning Regio at 07:15 or the afternoon one at 15:40 brings you back.

In Niš, the hotels around King Milan Square are close to the fortress. To break the journey for Ravanica or Lazarica, stop in Ćuprija or Kruševac.

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