Bosnia, Serbia restart steam train line in bid to attract tourists, boost ties
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}VISEGRAD, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Bosnia and Serbia restarted an old steam-powered train Saturday in an effort to increase tourism in a region that was devastated by war in the 1990s.
Thousands of people gathered in the eastern Bosnian town of Visegrad to greet the train on century-old, narrow-gauge rails as it ended its 26-mile (42-kilometer) journey from Mokra Gora station in Serbia.
Bosnian and Serbian officials said the joint Serbia-Bosnia effort also is aimed at restoring the broken ties between the wartime foes.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I am very happy that we are restarting an old train, an old railway, to open new perspectives," said Serbia's President Boris Tadic, who traveled to Visegrad for the ceremony.
The narrow-gauge rail line once connected Belgrade with Sarajevo and Dubrovnik in Croatia, but was closed in 1974.
It was forgotten for many years until Serbia reconstructed a 9-mile-long (15-kilometer-long) section in scenic Sargan Mountain to promote its own tourism with the vintage train.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bosnian authorities invested $6.4 million (€5 million) to extend the route the rest of the way to Visegrad.
Bitter ethnic conflicts involving Serbs, Croats, Muslim Bosniacs and other groups in 1991-95 split Yugoslavia into several nations, including Bosnia and Serbia. It was the worst fighting that Europe had seen since World War II.