Belgrade, 30 October 2024 (MIA) - Serbia's Minister of Construction, Transportation and Infrastructure, Goran Vesić, announced on Wednesday that the high-speed rail on the Novi Sad- Subotica section will be put into use on November 24, while the day before, Hungary, Serbia, North Macedonia, and Greece will sign a joint statement on the construction of a high-speed rail from Budapest to Athens (Patras) via Skopje, MIA's Belgrade corresponded reports.

"The high-speed rail through Serbia, as part of the future high-speed rail from Hungary to Greece, is part of the European railway network. According to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, a day before the new section from Novi Sad to Subotica is put to use, Hungary, Serbia, North Macedonia, and Greece will sign a joint declaration for the construction of a high-speed rail from Budapest to Athens, i.e. Piraeus and Patras," Vesić told TV Pink.

Hungarian partners, he added, are expected to complete their part of the railway to the Serbian border with Budapest by the end of 2025. The railway is 166km long and will take two hours and 45 minutes to travel from Belgrade to Budapest.

In accordance with the construction agreement for the Belgrade-Nish 230 km long high-speed rail, the Serbian Government adopted a special purpose plan, according to which construction will begin in 2025.

Vesić pointed out that traffic will not close during construction, because Serbia cannot lose its freight traffic, adding that construction of the 23 km long Nish-Brestovac rail will be completed in February. 

"We still have the 135km railway from Brestovac to Preshevo. We have agreed with the Government of North Macedonia to jointly seek funding and work on our 135km and their 50 km to Skopje. Greece is already designing a railway from Thessaloniki to Idomeni on the Greek-Macedonian border, and is restoring the Thessaloniki-Athens railway. The Skopje-Idomeni connection remains unsolved, and when that is finished we will have over 1.638km of railway from Budapest to Patras. The railway will be a pillar of transport in the Western Balkans," the Minister stressed. 

He noted that Serbia is interested in building a railway from Nish to the Bulgarian border, adding that the construction of a railway from Istanbul to the Bulgarian border is under way in Turkey with EU support; the railway from the border to Sofia is completed, and the Sofia-Dragoman section on the border with Sofia remains to be prepared.

"If you were to ask President Vučić and me as the competent Minister - the railway is a priority. If you were to ask the European Commission, you will get the same answer, because the EU decided to double the number of renewed railways by 2030. A new regulation on trans-European corridors has also been adopted, bringing member-countries and non-member states on equal footing regarding access to funds. The EU is allocating EUR 500 billion for European corridors, 80 percent of which intended for railway," Vesić said. ssh/nn/

Photo: MIA archive