The first two sections, from Belgrade to Stara Pazova and from Stara Pazova to Novi Sad, should be completed by the end of 2021.
Serbia still does not have trains that will rumble 200 per hour on the new fast track between Belgrade and Novi Sad on the Belgrade-Budapest line, but it is preparing for the procurement of compositions. It is not yet known when we will buy the trains, but it is known what kind of trains we need.
The Ministry of Construction and Transport points out that trains that will run on high-speed rail must be in accordance with all European regulations and standards, regardless of who the manufacturer is and how it will be procured.
– The construction of a high-speed railway from Belgrade to Novi Sad, and soon from Novi Sad to Subotica and the border with Hungary, is being done according to EU regulations and standards, and the railway will be built for trains running at speeds of up to 200 kilometers per hour – they point out in the relevant ministry and add that it has not yet been decided which trains will run on the high-speed line.
This is still being discussed and it is necessary to harmonize the performance of trains with the performance of high-speed rail. The fund of passenger trains that travels on our railways has already been renewed and modernized in previous years with the purchase of 48 new electric and diesel trains, but here we are talking about trains for high-speed rail, which has not existed in Serbia so far.
Branislav Boskovic, a professor at the Faculty of Transportation in Belgrade, says that in previous years, Serbian railways have renewed their rolling stock, but that these sets are suitable for intercity and regional traffic, which means more stops.
– The trains we need now are produced by the French, Swiss, Russians and Germans. Of course, the Chinese are also unavoidable, and they are already making compositions that run up to 400 kilometers per hour. There are many segments that will influence the choice of the company from which we will buy vehicles. Because, apart from the technical parameters, the origin of the seller also depends, and the policy is a segment that is not negligible. On the section from Novi Sad to Belgrade, trains will run from 140 to 200 per hour. This is a completely rational decision, because due to the proximity of the facilities and the configuration of the terrain, raising the speed of up to 200 kilometers per hour would be too expensive in some parts – Boskovic explains.
Boskovic notes that the route between Novi Sad and Belgrade is more demanding than the section from Serbian Athens to Subotica, because the part that is still in the plan for construction is simpler, since the railway passes through the plain.
– The viaduct and tunnel in Chortanovci were a real challenge for the builders on the first 110 kilometers of high-speed railway through Serbia. On the move towards the border with Hungary, the most extensive work will be the reconstruction of the Vrbas junction – the professor believes.
The first two sections, from Belgrade to Stara Pazova and from Stara Pazova to Novi Sad, should be completed by the end of 2021.
The first part from the Belgrade Center station to Stara Pazova is being built by the Chinese consortium of China Ralvey International and the China Communications Construction Company.
The value of the contract is 350.1 million dollars, and the financing was provided from a loan from the Chinese Exim Bank, Srbija Danas reports.
