On Sunday morning, the 451 Express travelled on its first scheduled journey for 18 years between Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The rail link between the Serbian capital Belgrade and Sarajevo the capital of Bosnia-Hezegovina had stopped running since the outbreak of war in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the spring of 1992.

Enthusiasm for the resumption of the link was tempered by the poor condition of the train. Passengers complained of dirt and the fact that one carriage had no heating. Only 17 people travelled on the first train and just nine of them stayed aboard for the whole journey from Belgrade to Sarajevo.

The train takes about nine and a half hours to travel nearly 500-kilometre on a route which runs via Vinkovci in Croatia. The conductor said the journey only takes so long because of the poor state of the track. A return ticket costs 31 euros.

photo: waving off the 451 Express (EPA)