Official documents have already been signed for the development of the Belgrade-Budapest high-speed railway by the authorities of each state and railway companies, together with the Chinese side that will implement this project.
At the Serbia and China Summit (December 2014), Serbia’s Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vucic, his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orban, and Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang signed the agreement on the construction of the Belgrade-Budapest railway. China will be involved in the implementation of the project. “The new railway will help develop not just the industry and the infrastructure of Serbia, but also better connections with Hungary, Macedonia, Greece and the rest of Europe and will also stimulate the increase of railway transport share in the freight and passenger segments”, declared the Serbian Prime Minister after signing the document.
The 370 km-long railway will require investments of EUR 1.5-2 Billion and includes extension and modernisation works. Around 334 km of line of the total length has to be converted in double, electrified line. The feasibility study would be completed in April 2015 and the preliminary design by June. Works will be initiated in September 2015. According to the parties involved, the project is expected to be completed in 2017. After the beginning of services, the travel time will be reduced from 8 hours to 2.4 hours.
At the beginning of 2015, Serbian Railways (ZS), Chinese Railway Corporation, the company responsible for the construction of the line, and Hungarian Railways (MAV) signed the MoU for the elaboration of the railway feasibility study and, according to the document, the Chinese will elaborate the feasibility study for the construction works and modernisation of the railway between Belgrade and Budapest, based on the report supplied by Serbia and Hungary. A design study will be elaborated in parallel. Thus, the two European countries will have to hand in the reports by the middle of April. The Chinese will then elaborate the feasibility study for the whole line and present it to a common working group (formed of the three countries) by the end of June. Hungary and Serbia will be responsible for the geological expertise (on the territory of each country) while the Chinese will carry out studies related to geodesy, cartography, and other activities regarding preliminary works and design.
“The railway will be finalised in two years proving beneficial for Central and East-European countries and China alike”, declared China’s Prime Minister, Li Keqiang.
Important line for China-Europe freight transport
The development of the Belgrade-Budapest railway will play an important role for freight transport on China-Europe axis, especially since Chinese operator Cosco Pacific holds a 35-year concession for the modernisation and handling of containers in the Port of Piraeus. Cosco operates three berths in the port (the third being opened in June 2013) and plans to transform this transport node into a regional hub for trade with Europe. Concession is also including the extension of two large terminals in the port which will increase the operator’s activity, while the implementation of the Belgrade-Budapest railway will help the Chinese direct a higher volume of freight from Greece to Europe.
“This (Belgrade-Budapest rail line) will put in place a corridor between China and Europe. With more such express lanes, the scale of our trade will be greater. We are confident we will complete this within two years,” Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said.
According to the local press, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has expressed trust that the announcement of the Greek Government on the cancellation of Port of Piraeus’ privatisation could not impact on the development of the Belgrade-Bar rail line. We have to specify that the recently-installed Greek Government has cancelled the privatisation of the port. Cosco had previously submitted an offer to take over the port.
Hungary will also play an important role in the distribution chain of the freight shipped to Europe by sea. “The Port of Piraeus is already operated by the Chinese part, but there is also the Port of Thessaloniki, a multimodal hub. The freight from China reaches these ports and will be transferred to Western Europe through the distribution hub in Budapest and, consequently, Hungary’s capital will have a key position in the logistics process”, writes Budapest Business Journal, quoting a confidential source.
Since at present there are regular trains between Europe and China in the north, the Belgrade-Budapest railway could be a gateway to Europe and through the Port of Piraeus, in the south, forming a land-maritime transport corridor. This variant will intensify freight flow being favourable to the import-export activity on the Europe-China axis and vice-versa, will consolidate the connectivity and regional integration level and will stimulate along the entire corridor.
In fact, the Belgrade-Budapest railway will be an important corridor in the transit of freight on the Europe-China axis.
by Pamela Luică
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