Serbian Railways Infrastructure (Infrastruktura Zeleznice Srbije) awarded a EUR 153.6 million contract to for the construction of Niš railway bypass. The contract was signed by the company’s general manager Jelena Tanasković with a consortium comprising Extra Auto Transport (leader) and China Road and Bridge Corporation.
Construction works are expected to begin by the end of July and will be completed within almost three years. the bypass is located in the northern part of Niš and will enable the relocation of freight rail traffic from the centre of the city.
The Niš bypass is a new single-track railway line route in the length of 22.4 km and after completion, trains will run at a speed of 120 km/h. The project starts at Niš Ranžirna station at PS 3 exit switch and end point PS 1 entrance switch in the Sicevo station. The project also includes the construction of new stations – Niš Sever, Pantelej and Vrežina. The first phase of the new Niš Sever station covers the construction of 4 tracks, a station building, a plateau, an access road and a parking lot, an underpass and platform no. 2. The new station building shall store interlocking devices,telecommunication equipment and power supply devices.
The Pantelej station is an intermediary station and regulates the movement of trains on lines Niš – Dimitrovgrad – state border and (Niš) – Crveni Krst – Zaječar – Prahovo Pristanište, and on the bypass railway. In Pantelej station the lines for Dimitrovgrad and Zajecar depart, and it is open for operation in passenger suburban, local and city traffic. The station will have 5 tracks and 2 platforms were designed.
The project for Vrežina station covers the construction of four tracks with 750 metres each and 2 platforms, a two-storey station building with rooms conforming to technical requirements, a plateau, an access road and a parking lot, and an underpass.
The project also includes a turnout point in Prosek as a temporary solution until the construction and modernisation works on Niš-Dimitrovgrad will be completed.
Niš railway bypass is part of the ongoing modernisation project of the 86 km rail connection to Dimitrovgrad at the border with Bulgaria on Corridor X and is parte of the Begrade – Dimitrovgrad rail route. The modernisation of the 104 km Niš – Dimitrovgrad – Bulgaria border includes the 86 km Sićevo – Staničenje – State border and the rail bypass around Niš. The project is implemented into several components covering civil works, track modernisation and electrification and signalling installation on Sićevo – Staničenje – Dimitrovgrad line, the Niš railway bypass designed for passenger and freight traffic.
EUR 268.3 million is the total value of the modernisation and reconstruction of the 96 km Niš – Dimitrovgrad line and is funded by the European Investment Bank (EIB) through a EUR 134 million loan, Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) with EUR 73 million and 10% of project’s costs is covered by the state budget.
The modernisation of Niš – Dimitrovgrad – State border (with Bulgaria), on the Orient/East-Med Corridor is estimated at EUR 331.36 million, of which EUR 112.3 million (33.9% of the total) is the total value of the grants and EUR 134 million (40.4%) is the loans’ value. EUR 1.5 million is the external grant from the EU Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) while EUR 83.54 million (25.2%) is the national/own contribution. WBIF has provided grants totalling EUR 112.32 million while the EIB contribution is EUR 134 million.
On March 28, 2024, the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić has launched the reconstruction works for the Pirot – Sukovo rail section on the Niš – Dimitrovgrad line.
In March 2023, the European Commission announced the provision of EUR 600 million grant to support Serbia to upgrade and modernise Belgrade – Niš line, part of a EUR 2.2 billion financial package to upgrade Corridor X on Serbian territory.
In Serbia, the Orient/East-Med Corridor is 872 km long (representing 23% of country’s rail network) and includes an 80 km section as Serbia – Bulgaria cross-border connection along the CXc route between Sicevo and Dimitrovgrad which is not electrified section. Without modernisation and reconstruction works, trains would continue to run at speeds of 30-50 km/h as the signalling and train control system is use for more than five decades.
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