In the early days of the siege, the bus terminal was full of panicky Sarajevans attempting to escape the escalating violence unfolding around them. However, after the Bosnian Serb forces began shelling the city, even this escape route was cut off.
Today, the bus terminal serves as the main mode of transportation between Sarajevo and neighboring countries (Sarajevo airport is currently closed due to the conflict in nearby Kosovo). The bus station also serves as the arrival point for scores of refugees from the Sandzak region of Serbia, an area undergoing a quiet campaign of 'ethnic cleansing'. In this predominantly Muslim area of Serbia, residents are being forced to pay 200 DM (about $130 US) to be forcibly removed from their own homes and businesses and put on buses. While some of these new arrivals have friends or family to stay with in Bosnia, many do not.
The bus and train terminals are also a stop for the city's tram system (middle of the picture), which circles through Sarajevo between the suburb of Ilidza to west and Bascarcija to the east. The trams are frequent and are the cheapest way to see Sarajevo, with a ticket costing 1 DM ($0.60 US). The trams also run on an honor system in which riders are expected to validate their own tickets once on board, either with a punch card mechanism or a magnetic card reader (depending if you have an old or new style ticket). Just to keep everyone honest, a plainclothes tram inspector may hop on and ask you to present a validated ticket.
The train station in Sarajevo used to be one of the most beautiful train stations in the Balkans. However, shelling and mortar attacks soon changed that. Despite the numerous attacks, the train station served as a staging point for numerous humanitarian convoys leaving the city. Towards the latter part of the siege, in 1995, a short rail line leading to three neighboring districts to the west was established, but because there were no more functioning locomotives, the rail cars were pulled by trucks.
