Two beautiful European cities beloved by Brits for short breaks are set to become better connected as a £3.3 billion high-speed rail project gets underway.
The existing Budapest-Belgrade railway is being upgraded to meet European standards, promising a 217km-long double-track electrified high-speed railway network that will improve passenger services.
This upgrade will drastically reduce the travel time between Belgrade and Budapest to just two hours and 40 minutes, a marked improvement on the current eight-hour journey.
It will also expedite the transportation of Chinese goods between Greek ports and Western Europe, potentially transforming Hungary into a regional logistics hub.
In April 2024, the tracks connecting the Serbian cities of Novi Sad and Subotica were successfully joined in Backa Topola, Serbia.
The Serbian segment of the Belgrade-Budapest railway line is set to be completed by the end of 2024, while construction on the Hungarian section continues.
The entire modernisation project is slated for completion in 2025. It involves the construction of new tracks and the refurbishment of existing ones along the route.
Approximately 103 miles of the railway is located in Hungary, with the remaining 114 miles in Serbia. This dual-purpose railway will facilitate both passenger and freight transport between the capitals of Serbia and Hungary.
The Serbian portion of the railway link comprises three segments: the 21-mile stretch from Belgrade to Stara Pazova, the 25-mile journey from Stara Pazova to Novi Sad, and the 67-mile route from Novi Sad to the state border at Subotica.
Designed for speeds of up to 124mph, trains will operate at a maximum speed of 99mph on this line.
Work began on the Serbian section of the project in 2018, with the 21-mile Belgrade-Stara Pazova segment opening for service in March 2021.
The 75km stretch between Belgrade and Novi Sad has been operational since March 2022, serving 6.83 million passengers over the past two years.
Funding for the project comes from the Chinese Government. In 2020, the Hungarian Government secured a $2.1bn (£1.7bn) loan from China, covering approximately 85 percent of the investment needed for the Hungary section of the project.
Serbia also arranged a $297m (£245m) loan with the Export-Import Bank of China. The total cost of the 114-mile Serbian section is estimated at around $2bn (£1.7bn).
The remaining funds for the project are provided by the Serbian and Hungarian governments to complete their respective sections.