Upgraded railway line to cut Belgrade-Novi Sad travel time

Upgraded railway line to cut Belgrade-Novi Sad travel time

BELGRADE -- A contract has been signed in Belgrade on Friday to upgrade and build a two-track railway north of Belgrade.

Milutin Ignjatović, director general of the Institute of Transportation CIP, and Sergei Pavlov, director general of the Russian national railway company RZD International, signed the contract on the design of the upgrade and construction of the two-track railway between Stara Pazova and Novi Sad that should be completed by early 2018.

Zorana Mihajlović, Serbia's deputy prime minister and minister of construction, transportation and infrastructure, attended the signing at the Serbian government building.

She told a press conference that the deal refers to the realization of Annex 3 of the contract relating to the part of the Russian loan aimed for the Serbian railway system.

Mihajlović said that the making of the project costs USD 9 million, and the entire investment is worth USD 450 million.

Under the schedule, the project should be completed in June next year, and four months later, after a check of the project, the railway construction will start that will then take 30 months, Mihajlović said.

She underscored that the Serbian railways should be modernized, and that she expects no problems in the future concerning the railway construction and that works will progress more quickly that it has been the case so far.

Ignjatović noted that the Stara Pazova-Novi Sad railway will have all characteristics of a modern European rail line, adding that this will be the first railway not only in Serbia, but also in the region that will be designed for speeds of 200km/h.

After completing the...