Reconstruction of railroad to Budapest starts - Belgrade-Stara Pazova section totals USD 350,1 m

Modernization and reconstruction of the Belgrade-Budapest railway, on the section from Belgrade to Stara Pazova, 34.5 kilometers long, began today at the Railway station in Zemun.

The works will be carried out by Chinese companies China Railways International and China Construction Company, and the value of the contract is USD 350.1m. It is planned that the section will be completed within three years, and the complete Belgrade-Budapest fast track in six years.

The modernization of the Belgrade-Budapest railway is the first cross-border project within the cooperation between China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, jointly implemented by Serbia, Hungary and China.

Total value of works in Serbia, on the railroad to the border with Hungary, 184 kilometers long, is about USD 2 billion while the preparation of this project lasted for three years.

At the Belgrade Center-Stara Pazova railway line, the construction and electrical infrastructure will be completely reconstructed and modernized, so that trains from Belgrade to Batajnica could travel up to 120 kilometers an hour, and from Batajnica to Stara Pazova, where there will be four tracks, up to 200 kilometers per hour. Now the trains on that line start at a maximum speed of 70 kilometers per hour.

For the financing of the works on the Belgrade-Stara Pazova section, a loan from the Chinese Export-Import Bank was taken in the amount of USD 297.6 m. The annual interest rate on this loan is two percent, the repayment period is 180 months and waiting period is 60 months. It was planned that goods, technologies and services purchased from this loan will be procured mainly in China.

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, Minister of Civil Engineering, Transport and Infrastructure Zora Mihajlovic and Deputy Director of the National Commission for Development and Reform of China Wang Xiaotao attended the launch of works at the Zemun Railway Station.

Vlada Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo građevinarstva, saobraćaja i infrastrukture Republike Srbije

China Communications Construction Company ltd Beograd

mRailway station Belgrade

railways Belgrade Budapest

railroad Belgrade Stara Pazova

railway station Zemun

Ana Brnabić

Zorana Mihajlović

National Commission for Development and Reform of China

Wang Xiaotao

China Railways Innerternational

CCCC

Construction Company

railroad Belgrade Batajnica

Batajnica

Batajnica railway Stara Pazova

International Railway International

Export import bank

Viktor Orban

Government of Hungary