photo: EPA-EFE/HAYOUNG JEON/Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic
Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic announced that the government will invest €6 billion in upgrading its railway infrastructure so that Serbia can better connect with all countries in the region and the EU through train transport.
The statement was made at the Belgrade Centre at the Prokop train station, right after the arrival of the Connecting Europe Express train. The event was held on the occasion of the Western Balkans 2021 railway summit held in Belgrade on 13 September.
The Prime Minister mentioned that Serbia invested more than €600 million in 2014, which is considered a start-up for investment in railway infrastructure, along with the purchase of trains.
Serbia's objective in future years is to set rail transport as a primary destination, both for passenger and freight transport. As 2021 is a global railway year, this statement also applies to Serbia, which adds that 2021 is also the year of the green agenda. These two objectives go hand in hand, as rail transport is one of the most environmentally friendly modes of transport right next to water transport," said Ana Brnabic.
In January 2020, Serbian President Aleksand Vučić announced that €3.53 billion would be invested in upgrading the rail system, of which €1.7 billion will be earmarked for the Belgrade metro project. These commitments are part of the Serbia 2025 project, which is expected to unlock €9 billion in the modernization and development of the country's transport sector.
In 2020, the Ministry also announced new projects related to the construction and reconstruction of a 520 km long railway line with a total value of EUR 1.9 billion. They also mentioned plans to reconstruct the 850 km long line, which will be restored at a later stage.
The construction of the Belgrade-Budapest corridor is important, which would make Serbia more interconnected with the EU. The Belgrade-Novi Sad section is expected to be completed in the near future and trials on this section should start at the beginning of the following year.