Serbia section of Belgrade to Budapest high-speed rail ready by June

A high-speed railway from Belgrade to Budapest is one of the biggest infrastructure projects in eastern Europe. The Serbian section is partially funded by Chinese loans and built by Chinese companies, and now the project is entering its final stages. 

The 75-kilometer-long Belgrade to Novi Sad stretch has been in service since March 2022. On the Hungarian side, the construction of the section from the border to Budapest is also progressing. When both sections are finished, the travel time between the capitals of Serbia and Hungary will be cut to just two hours and 40 minutes. 

One of the most complicated sections of the construction at the Serbian side was the railway viaduct in the town of Vrbas. These days, the Chinese workers there are doing final touches on that viaduct, with a length of over 1.4 kilometers and a complicated steel structure.

Milan Banovic from China Railway International Company gave us insight how complex was a construction of a part of this viaduct.

"One part of a viaduct was made in Serbia and another produced in China so, it was a challenge to organize the site in order to enable smooth installation of this steel structure," he explained. "We needed to use temporary roads and divert public transportation among other challenges."

The viaduct goes through the industrial heart of the city of Vrbas and over a canal that connects the Danube with the River Tisa. By the end of this year, trains travelling at almost 200 kilometers per hour will cross it on their way to and from the border with Hungary.

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There are currently no trains between Novi Sad and the northern city of Subotica but when the track is operational customers will notice the vast improvement to the previous service that averaged 40 kilometers an hour.

Anita Dimovski from the Serbian Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure explained the benefits, "we can say that the quality of living will rise thanks to the ability to move from point A to point B in the shortest possible time that no other form of transportation offers.

"From Novi Sad to Subotica in 42 minutes, from Belgrade to Subotica in one hour and 17 minutes."

The main construction stars of this project are the Chinese workers from the China Railway International Company (CRIC). In a short period of time, they have managed to overcome some serious technical challenges and bring this project to its final stages. And the key to that success was cooperation with their Serbian colleagues.

"The cooperation between us and our colleagues can be described as harmonious, smooth, and fruitful," said Li Wei, Deputy Manager of CRIC. "First of all, it is because we have a common goal, which is to complete the construction and open the Vrbas section as soon as possible. This High-Speed railway would bring convenience and benefits to the Serbian people."

The builders are saying that the entire Serbian side will be finished by this June. The test phase would last several months, and the railways would become operational by the end of this year.

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