One of the most famous and popular trains in this region—and certainly beyond—is the Plavi voz (Blue Train), built for the former President of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito. It was designed to meet all the conditions for Tito’s comfortable travel, as well as his protocol obligations during journeys within the country and abroad.
The Marshal traveled more than 600,000 kilometers on the Blue Train, using it on railway routes across Yugoslavia and beyond, including trips to France, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, and the USSR.
The Blue Train features a ceremonial salon with a dining area, three salon cars with apartments, a kitchen, a restaurant, and a special enclosed baggage car for transporting automobiles. In total, it has 92 seats, while the full capacity of the sleeping cars is 90 berths. The interior of the train is mostly made of wood. Mahogany, pear wood, and walnut were used, and the salons and corridors are decorated with inlays.
More than 60 foreign heads of state and official delegations traveled on this train, including some of the most influential leaders of the 20th century: Khrushchev, Brezhnev, U Nu, Nasser, Gandhi, Ahmed Ben Bella, Sékou Touré, Celal Bayar, Konstantinos Karamanlis, Greek King Paul and Queen Frederica, British Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip and Princess Anne, as well as many others.
On his final journey, Josip Broz Tito was transported by the Blue Train from Ljubljana to Belgrade, where he was buried in the “House of Flowers” in 1980.
