Aleksandar Vucic, Oliver Varhelyi (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)
The agreement on the first tranche of the investment grant for rehabilitation and upgrade of the Belgrade-Nis rail, worth a total of EUR598 million, which is a part of the investment package for the Corridor X railway, was symbolically signed on the train on a section of the subject line on Feb. 28.
The agreement was signed by Alessandro Bragonzi, European Investment Bank (EIB) head of Regional Representation for the Western Balkans, and Serbian Construction Minister Goran Vesic in attendance of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi.
Varhelyi said that a high-speed rail could change the reality for citizens in southern Serbia, but also in the entire region, adding he hoped that it would strengthen the alliance with the EU. He also said that the line would be “the spine of the main trade route,” which would connect Serbia with the North, and also with the West to Montenegro and with the Southeast to Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Greece.
The high-speed rail between Belgrade and Nis will be 230 kilometers long and is expected for completion in 2029. The EU will secure EUR2.2 billion, EIB will provide EUR1.1 billion and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development EUR550 million, while the EU grant is EUR598 million. The railway is expected to transport 2.3 million passengers annually.
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