Driving by train returns to Serbia at the big door. This, 2022, began with works on reconstruction and modernization of a total of 300 kilometers of railway, and as early as March 15, citizens will be able to ride the high-speed railway from Belgrade to Novi Sad, at a speed of about 200 kilometers per hour.
As the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, emphasized, it is a wonderful train, a double decker, and for testing the railway of the German railways, it reached a speed of 200 kilometers per hour.
He emphasized that this shows how fast Serbia is progressing:
– I went to the army by train, and I always went to matches by train – said Vučić.
– People loved trains then. I believe that from March 15, everyone will be able to drive, save money, it will be cheaper than a car, and it looks wonderful.
And while the first ride by fast train to Novi Sad is expected in a little over a month, by the end of 2024 it will continue to the border with Hungary. Neighbors are expected to finish their part of the work in the first half of 2025.
– Construction of a high-speed railway up to 200 kilometers per hour between Belgrade and Budapest is the largest and most important investment and infrastructure project in this part of Europe – says Nenad Stanisavljevic from “Serbian Railway Infrastructure”. Construction of high-speed railway Belgrade – Budapest is the first cross-border project within the framework of cooperation between China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which are jointly implemented by Serbia, Hungary and China. When the high-speed line is completed, the train will travel on this international route for less than three hours.
On the section from Belgrade to Novi Sad, checks began on the first day of January to see what remains to be done. The supervision is performed by the German railways “Deutsche Bahn”, and the contractors are the Russian railway company “RZD International” and a Chinese consortium. With the announcement of the completion of works on the overpass in Kisacka Street, where road traffic was suspended until March, the works on the railway from Belgrade to Novi Sad will be completed.
In parallel with the reconstruction of the railway, the main railway station in Novi Sad is being renovated, which will get a new look after almost 60 years of existence. The first phase of works includes the reconstruction of the station tracks that will be reached by trains from Belgrade, after which it will be transferred to other tracks, and finally to the interior and exterior of the station itself, and it is planned to install an elevator to the tracks. All other railway stations on the entire section of the high-speed railway all the way to Belgrade will be reconstructed.
Another benefit is the construction of 120 new facilities, ie underpasses, overpasses, underpasses, tunnels, in order to separate road and railway traffic at the places where they intersected and thus be safer for all participants. Sound walls have been installed in some places to reduce noise to a minimum.
Works on the construction of the section from Novi Sad to Subotica (108 kilometers) have recently begun, and works on the section of the international railway Corridor 10, between Jajinci and Mala Krsna (68.8 kilometers), are nearing completion. In September last year, works began on the Nis-Brestovac railway (22.8 kilometers) as part of the international railway Corridor 10 between Nis and Presevo, and in October on the construction of the Subotica-Horgos railway of great international importance (26.6 kilometers). When regional railways with a total length of about 150 kilometers are added to that, whose reconstruction was completed in 2021, that means that about 450 kilometers of railways were worked on.
These are the regional railways Nis – Zajecar (108 kilometers), Kumane – Banatsko Milosevo (28.5 kilometers) and Novi Sad – Bogojevo (9.5 kilometers of station tracks). The Nis-Brestovac railway will be completed by June 2023, including the construction of eight new reinforced concrete bridges, on the site of the existing ones. The longest will be the bridge over the South Morava near Malošište (180 meters). The reconstructed railway Nis – Brestovac will be capable of speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour.
The new “Stadler” trains will run on the fast train to Novi Sad. The first one has already arrived, and two more will by the end of the year. The price of these three compositions is 62.2 million euros. The train has 316 seats, internet, mini-bar. According to earlier announcements, the ticket will cost around eight euros.
In the past seven years, the reconstruction of 227 kilometers of highways and 529 kilometers of regional railways has been completed, or a total of about 750 kilometers of railways in Serbia. In addition, the preparation of documentation for the modernization and reconstruction of another 720 kilometers of highways in Serbia is underway, which should be realized in the next few years, Novosti reports.
