The first high-speed line that China will build in Europe will be on Serbian territory. Work could start in November this year. The line linking the capital of Serbia, Belgrade and the capital of Hungary, Budapest, is part of the new „One Belt, One Road” project initiated by the Beijing government. Through this project China aims to facilitate transcontinental freight transport on the Asia-Europe relationship.
Serbian Transport Minister, Zorana Mihajlovic, said her country will begin work on the Serbian section of the 350 km long railway. Serbia starts works despite an investigation by the European Commission that Hungary has infringed European Union (EU) rules on public procurement. Since Serbia and China are not EU members, the investigation has not prevented them from continuing the project.
The rail project between Serbia and Hungary amounts to EUR 2.5 billion and provides for the modernisation of an existing line between the two countries, but which is currently no longer used.
The new railway will allow the circulation of modern and electric freight and passenger trains at a maximum speed of 200 km / h, reducing travel time from eight hours to three hours. The rail route is part of the Land Sea Express Route, which runs from Piraeus port of Greece (but owned by the Chinese company Cosco following the privatisation of the port – editor’s note), through FYROM Macedonia and Serbia, to Hungary, and aims to accelerate transport of Chinese goods from Greece to Central and Western Europe.
Minister Mihajlovic said she expects the work on 184 km of Serbian territory to end in two and a half years. Li Manchang, the Chinese Ambassador to Serbia, has confirmed that the two countries are due to sign an agreement for the construction of the second phase by the end of 2017.
In Hungary, the European Commission is investigating whether the realisation of the Hungarian part of Belgrade-Budapest railway line has infringed the EU rules requiring public tendering for large-scale transport projects. The EUR 1.5 billion section of Hungary was officially approved in November 2015, when Hungary and China signed a bilateral treaty. It was funded by Export and Import Bank of China and developed by a consortium of China Railway International and China Communications Construction Company.
Share on:
