Serbia, Bulgaria in talks over Nis-Sofia high-speed rail link

Bulgaria is already working on a link from Sofia towards the Serbian border, Vesic said, as seen in a video posted on the website of news agency Tanjug on Thursday.

Vesic added that Turkey is developing a connection from Istanbul to the Turkish-Bulgarian border, indicating the potential for a high-speed rail route extending from Nis all the way to Istanbul.

The minister also said that Serbia will also work together will Bulgaria on a rail link connecting the Bulgarian port of Vidin to the eastern Serbian city of Zajecar.

Earlier this month, Serbia started the overhaul of the 100-km railway line linking Nis to Dimitrovgrad, on the Bulgarian border.

The Nis-Dimitrovgrad link forms part of the pan-European road, Corridor X, which runs between Salzburg in Austria and Thessaloniki in Greece.

In March, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the EU signed with Serbia a 2.2 billion euro ($2.4 billion) financing package for the reconstruction and modernisation of the Belgrade - Nis railway line.

$ = 0.9158 euro