Tito's Blue Train

Tito's Blue Train (Serbian: Плави воз, romanized: Plavi voz; Croatian: Plavi vlak; Slovene: Modri vlak; Macedonian: Синиот воз, romanized: Siniot voz) is the popular name[1] of the former state luxury train of Yugoslav Marshal Josip Broz Tito, president of the former Yugoslavia.

Some of the surviving rolling stock is now operated as a tourist attraction on the 476-kilometre (296 mi) Belgrade–Bar railway, between Belgrade, capital of Serbia, and Bar, a coastal town in Montenegro.

[5] It was also used to take Tito and his wife to the Brijuni islands in Croatia during the summer and hostings meetings with important foreign dignitaries.

[6] Among those who travelled on the train as Tito's guests were Haile Selassie,[7] François Mitterrand, Yasser Arafat, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sukarno and, in October 1972, Queen Elizabeth II.

They are air-conditioned and consist of two suites with one bed each, a study, a bathroom, a lounge area, two armchairs, and a wardrobe with a “annexe” lined walls in silk wallpaper used by the president’s “companion”.

[1] The other cars have two luxurious and four double beds, a work cabinet, a bathroom, a lounge for eight people and a kitchenette.

[10] The cars have a sound system (internal, which is two-channel and external) and telephone installations, and steam heated.

The cars are equipped with telephone and sound system installations (internal, which is two-channel and external).

It numbered from 20 to 32 workers with a tendency to reduce them in accordance with the modernization of work and the transfer of some jobs to the then ŽTO.

[15][16] The first dedicated locomotives for the Blue Train were three repainted JŽ class 11 4-8-0; one of them is now preserved in Belgrade.

[18] In 1978, four Electro-Motive Division EMD JT22CW-2 locomotives, designated as ŽS series 666, were acquired by Yugoslav Railways for use with the train, hence their all-blue livery.

[1] In the days between the death of the president and the state funeral, Yugoslav media showed crowds of citizens standing along the train's route in Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia to pay their respects.

The Blue Train's last official state tour was conducted under President Slobodan Milošević during the celebration of the 600th anniversary of the Battle of the Field of Blackbirds on 28 June 1989 by taking the Blue train to Gazimestan, where Milošević delivered his Blackbird Field speech.

[3] After that, the Plavi voz was no longer used as a symbol of a state and power insignia for official public events.

The carriages sat unused until 2004, when they were opened to members of the general public, and domestic and foreign tourists began to visit them.

For the first time, ordinary people had the opportunity to see for themselves the previously unattainable luxury of the train, which had been used by more than sixty foreign statesmen and state delegations.

The conference car of Tito's Blue Train.
Tito and his wife onboard the Blue train during the opening of the Belgrade–Bar railway
The lounge on Tito's Blue Train.
8 seat Salon car, with conference table
TDiesel engine train.
JŽ D66/761 as it looks stored at Topčider, (2016)