Connected on the local railway main line 4, the station is located in the traffic center of the city, at the very beginning of Liberation Boulevard, which forms the traffic backbone of the city in a north–south direction and via the Liberty Bridge leads to the Srem side of the city. In the east–west direction is the Jaša Tomić Boulevard, which leads to the eastern, northern, and western parts of the city via Kisačka and Rumenačka streets. Just 50 m from the railway platforms is a large station plateau used as a turning point for most local bus lines of JGSP Novi Sad, as well as the inbound and outgoing platforms of the international bus station Novi Sad (MAS).

The railway station consists of four units, specialized for specific programs: the administrative part of the building with a courtyard, in which certain facilities for passengers are also located (A), the central station hall with ticket offices and waiting rooms, defined by the roof structure (B), a block of catering facilities with the accompanying infrastructure (C) and storage space for breakbulk cargo, connected to the platform by ramps (D).^[1]

Old railway station edit

The original building of the Novi Sad railway station was located on the site of today's Liman fresh market and Cara Lazara Boulevard and was built in 1882 in the eclectic architectural style common for small railway stations throughout Austria-Hungary. The building consisted of a central hall with cashiers and a waiting rooms for passengers, as well as offices and a restaurant. Next to the main building were storerooms, a customs building and a building for postal service.^[2] The first train arrived from Subotica on 5 March 1883. The first railway line with Zemun, length of 74.4 km, was put into service on 10 December 1883.^[2] The connection to Belgrade via the Sava Bridge was established a year later, connecting it with the 234.4 km long Belgrade–Niš railway line.^[3]

Since 1901, an omnibus has been used to transport passengers from the railway station to the center of the city. The electric tram was introduced on 30 September 1911.^[2] The tram line lasted until 1958 when all tram traffic in the city was shut down with the introduction of bus services.^[3]

A train yard was built in 1921 from the alleged designs of the Gustave Eiffel bureau^[4] at the outskirts of the city that would later become the Bistrica neighborhood.

Due to increased demands, the old railway station was renovated and expanded in 1931 in a modernist architectural design popular at the time, with stone reliefs of the Roman god Mercury.^[3]

During World War II, the station was the site of a massacre of innocent civilians trying to flee the city in April 1941 after the Hungarian occupation of Yugoslav territories, a precursor to the Novi Sad raid. The station was bombed by ally bombers in September 1944. It was quickly rebuilt and put into service after the liberation of the city on 23 October 1944, with tram services restarted on 25 May 1945.^[3]

Due to the expansion of the city and the change of railway connections, the old railway station lost its importance by the 1960s. The main railway station for the city was planned to move north at the end of the future October 23 Boulevard (later known as Liberation Boulevard).^[2] The last train over the Marshal Tito Bridge (predecessor to the current Varadin Bridge) crossed in 1962, after which the railway was dismantled from the bridge, as well as the Štrosmajerova street and within Petrovaradin. On the last train car a poster was placed that had "Jel Vam žao što se rastajemo?" (Are you sorry that we're departing?) written on it.^[5] With the opening of the new railway station, the old one closed after over 80 years of service.

Between 1965 and 1966, the old railway station was dismantled, with modern boulevards built on its old railway routes. On the rout from the Marshal Tito Bridge towards the new Liman neighborhood, Maksima Gorkog street and Cara Lazara Boulevard were built. On the old railway lines for Sombor and Subotica, two boulevards were built, the Patrijarha Pavla Boulevard (previously Somborski Boulevard) and Europe Boulevard (previously Subotički Boulevard). Remnants of the old train yard was used by freight trains until 2021, when the last railway rails were dismantled and removed following the opening of the new park. There are currently plans to restore the old train yard and use it as part of a larger central park complex connected with the newly made park via a pedestrian bridge.^[4][6]

The only remnants of the old station building are stone reliefs. One of them is currently located at the east end of the Liman fresh market, within the open backyard for the post office in Vojvođanska street, as part of a memorial plaque for the old railway station.^[5][3]

Current railway station edit

In 1960, the City Council of Novi Sad announced a public call for the passenger railway and bus station design. The prerequisite for the new stations construction was the construction of the old Žeželj Bridge between 1957 and 1961, designed by Branko Žeželj and constructed by Mostogradnja. Since none of the 4 proposals submitted met the requirements, the architectural studio “Architect” from Novi Sad was awarded the task. Imre Farkaš has been appointed chief designer, aided by Milan Matović.^[2] The modern railway station was designed in a dashing, creative atmosphere, integrating the open call requirements with expert suggestions for modernizing the railway. The construction began on 1 March 1963 by the Novi Sad "Neimar" construction company, along with "Novomont", "Metal", "Polet" companies. The "Albini" company was responsible for adding all the glass to the building within 28 hours of non-stop work.^[7][8] The station was built in record time of 15 months, using simple construction techniques, and the costs were much lower than expected. The facility was completed ahead of schedule.

The building is characterized by a sawtooth roof, a symbol of typical roofs found in Vojvodina houses [sr] (or Pannonian houses). Interior of the station uses 17 types of stone used to cover the walls and floors of the station, all from different parts of Yugoslavia.^[1] Ljubiša Petrović was responsible for the grandiose composition "Zora u ravnici Vojvodine" (Dawn in the Vojvodina Plain), constructed with a ceramoplastic technique. Nikola Popržana made a copper coat of arms of Novi Sad that was placed on the railway platform side of the building.^[7]

The station was ceremoniously opened on 31 May 1964 by Stevan Doronjski-Franja, vice president of the executive board of Socialist Republic of Serbia. The first train left for Belgrade at 10:32 in the morning, while the second train left at 11 o′clock for the north of the country towards Subotica.^[8]

On 15 April 1988, to mark the 105th anniversary of railway traffic in Novi Sad, the JŽ 51-007 (or MÁV 375.956) steam locomotive was placed at the entrance of the station, as part of the Technical collection of the Railway Museum of Serbian Railways. Since then, it was a popular gathering place for people arriving or departing from Novi Sad via train, bus or car. The locomotive was built in 1925 in Budapest. There were 624 locomotives built in this series, with the last one, MÁV 375.1032, built in 1959 and subsequently the last steam locomotive produced in Hungary. They were common locomotives used in the Hungarian part of Austria-Hungary in the period of 1910–1924. After World War II, there were 166 locomotives in service, built in the periods of 1907–1918, 1920–1926 and 1942. On the territory of modern Vojvodina, there are 58 locomotives of this series in train yards or on display in Novi Sad, Subotica, Sombor, Kikinda, Vršac, Zrenjanin, Pančevo and Inđija. The JŽ 51-007 locomotive was used for the opening shots of the Italian film Andremo in città in 1966.^[9]

In 1989, a bronze statue of a railway worker was placed next to the old displayed locomotive.

Railway traffic was disrupted during the NATO bombing of Novi Sad in 1999. The old Žeželj Bridge was bombed twice, April 22 and April 26, with the latter resulting in the destruction of the bridge. Railway traffic across the Danube was halted until 29 May 2000, when the temporary Boško Perošević Bridge was built.

In 2021, plans for renovating and expanding the station were revealed as part of a nationwide railway revitalization and modernization effort by the government of Serbia to introduce high-speed railway traffic in the country.^[10] The plan included the reconstruction of the tracks 1, 2, 3, 10 and 11, construction of a new platform and the complete renovation of the main building with additional lifts for disabled people. Reconstruction of the railway station began in September 2021.^[11] The prerequisite for the renovation of the station was the dismantling of the Boško Perošević Bridge and re-construction Žeželj Bridge, designed by Aleksandar Bojović and constructed by JV Azvi - Taddei – Horta Coslada international consortium between 2012 and 2018. The railway station reconstruction is done by China Railway International and China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) as part of the Budapest–Belgrade railway project, the first stage of the planned Budapest–Belgrade–Skopje–Athens railway international connection. On 7 March 2022, JKP "Stan" restored the JŽ 51-007 locomotive, as well as installing additional display lights around it.^[12] The 75 km railway for speed up to 200 km/h between Belgrade and Novi Sad opened on 19 March 2022^[13] (this part was divided in two sections: as of 2018, the Belgrade–Stara Pazova 34.5 km section was planned to be finished in the end of 2020 and the Stara Pazova–Novi Sad 40.4 km section in November 2021).^{[14][15][16][17]} The construction of the 107.4 km section between Novi Sad and Subotica (Hungarian border) was started on 7 April 2022 and is due to be completed for the end of 2024.^[18]

International trains edit

• 340/341 (Beograd) Belgrade – Novi Sad – Subotica – Budapest Keleti
• 342/343 Belgrade – Novi Sad – Subotica – Budapest Keleti
• 344/345 (EC Avala) Belgrade – Novi Sad – Subotica – Budapest Keleti – Wien Hbf
• 1136/1137 (Panonija) Bar – Belgrade Centre – Novi Sad – Subotica

Inter City Serbia edit

• 540/541 (ICS Palić) Belgrade – Novi Sad – Subotica

Regio Express edit

• Novi Sad – Belgrade
• Novi Sad – Belgrade Centre
• Novi Sad – Vrbas – Subotica

Local trains edit

• Novi Sad – Belgrade
• Novi Sad – Vrbas – Subotica
• Novi Sad – Vrbas
• Novi Sad – Bogojevo – Sombor
• Novi Sad – Bogojevo – Sombor – Subotica
• Novi Sad – Inđija – Šid
• Novi Sad – Inđija – Sremska Mitrovica