November 27 (SeeNews) - Hungary's state-run railway operator MAV said on Monday it has opened a tender for the overhaul of the 152 km-long Hungarian section of the railway line linking Budapest with the Serbian capital Belgrade.
The project envisages the upgrade of the railway line connecting Soroksar, in the outskirts of Budapest, to Kelebia, on the border with Serbia, to a design speed of 200 km/h, under the specifications of the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T), MAV said.
The deadline for the submission of offers was set at January 19 and invitations to participate in the tender will be sent to up to three candidates until March 19.
The duration of the overhaul works, including the construction of tracks with a total length of 374 km, 18 grade-separated and 89 level crossings, as well as the reconstruction of about 444 km of catenary and supply wire, will be 86 months, MAV noted.
On Sunday, Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said the total cost of the overhaul of the Hungarian section of the Belgrade-Budapest railway line will stand at 550 billion forints ($2.1 billion/1.77 billion euro) and works will start by the end of 2020.
A total of 85% of the financing will be provided through a 20-year loan with an interest rate of 2.5% extended by Export-Import Bank of China (EXIM Bank) to the Hungarian government.