Tiger train from CRRC in Serbia. Source: NEVAGABOND/Railgallery
Savenkova Ekaterina, Editorial Contributor to International Projects of ROLLINGSTOCK Agency
Serbia: Four-car Tiger trainsets (Serbian series ŽS 411/419) started running at 2-4 hour intervals on 1 July, following trial passenger operation on a limited schedule since mid-April.
National operator Srbijavoz runs the new trains under the SOKO (Falcon) brand on the rebuilt Belgrade–Subotica line, where they reach up to 200 km/h and cover the 174 km route in 1 h 19 min.
Srbijavoz ordered the fleet of five low-floor EMUs in 2023 for €54 mln. The first trainset arrived in Serbia in spring 2024. Inside, there are 242 seats — 45 of them first class — plus toilets and multifunctional areas for bicycles and pushchairs. The trains carry the European Train Control System and onboard component diagnostics.
Inside the Tiger train from CRRC for Serbia. Source: Alexander K/youtube
It’s the fifth CRRC multiple-unit model now running in Europe. Macedonia took delivery of two EMUs and four DMUs of the MŽ Class 411 and 711 series back in 2015-2016, while 2025 brought three Sirius EMUs into service in the Czech Republic and four double-deck DDEMU2 EMUs in Austria — both operated by private companies. Certifying those two models drew considerable scrutiny and triggered a wave of initiatives aimed at pushing back against the Chinese manufacturer’s growing footprint in the EU.