BELGRADE (Serbia), November 26 (SeeNews) – Serbia is in talks for the delivery of high-speed trains from China by the end of 2021, infrastructure minister Tomislav Momirovic said.
"We spoke about the delivery of trains travelling at a speed of 200 km/h. I am convinced that by the end of next year, we will have such trains running on our railway lines," Momirovic said in a video file posted on the website of Tanjug news agency on Wednesday.
With the delivery of the new trains, Serbian citizens will feel the benefits of railway transport, Momirovic told a news conference on Wednesday after a meeting with China's ambassador to Serbia, Chen Bo, in Belgrade.
A project for the reconstruction of the railway line connecting Belgrade to Serbia's third largest city of Nis was also discussed at the meeting, Momirovic said.
In June, Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic said that the country was in talks for the reconstruction of the Belgrade - Nis railway with Russian and Chinese companies active in the overhaul of the line linking Belgrade to Hungary's capital Budapest on Serbian territory.
The Belgrade-Stara Pazova section of the Belgrade-Budapest railway, which is part of European transport Corridor X, is carried out by China Railway International (CRI) and China Communications Construction Company (CCCC). Serbia signed in July 2018 a 943 million euro ($1.1 billion) deal with CRI and CCCC for the overhaul of the 108 km-long Novi Sad-Subotica railway section. The overhaul of the Stara Pazova-Novi Sad section is carried out by Russia's RZD International.
($ = 0.840114 euro)