The section between Belgrade and Novi Sad of the Budapest-Belgrade Railway opened for service on March 19, marking that Serbia has entered an era of high-speed railway.
The section has a total length of about 80 kilometers, and now it takes only 30 minutes to travel between Belgrade and Novi Sad.
Passengers board and exit a train traveling on the newly-opened Belgrade-Novi Sad railway line in Serbia. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC) participated in construction of the section.
Starting from Belgrade, capital of Serbia, and terminating at Budapest, capital of Hungary, the 341.7-kilometer Budapest-Belgrade Railway is the first China-built railway in Europe and a key project under the framework of Belt and Road Initiative. It is the first of its kind to meet both Chinese railway standards and the European Union's International Union of Railways (UIC) standards.
After a modern renovation, the railway will turn into a passenger-cargo electrified double-track railway. The railway has a maximum designed speed of 200 kilometers per hour, shortening travel time between the terminals to less than three hours.
Once fully operational it is expected to promote connectivity between Chinese and EU railway construction and to ease travel between Serbia and other European regions. It will also play a key role in building Serbia into a regional traffic and logistics hub.
A train undergoes trial operation. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
(Executive editor: Niu Yilin)
