Serbia to finish Nis-Dimitrovgrad railway upgrade by 2027 - Vucic

"It will be incredible for all of Serbia to be able to travel from Pirot to Belgrade within three hours. And just imagine how much we will shorten the journey to Istanbul," Vucic said in a statement on Thursday. He made these remarks during his visit to oversee the ongoing construction at the southeastern city of Pirot, specifically on the Pirot-Sukovo section of the Nis-Dimitrovgrad railway line.

Works on the overhaul began in November 2023. The project includes the reconstruction of the 80 km Sicevo-Stanicenje-Dimitrovgrad section, the construction of a 22 km single-track electrified bypass around Nis and the electrification of the entire railway line that connects Nis to Dimitrovgrad.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) said in a separate statement on Thursday that the financial package of the European Union in support of the project comprises a grant of more than 108 million euro ($117 million) channeled via the Western Balkans Investment Framework and a 134 million euro EIB loan. In addition, the project also benefits from a 3.7 million euro technical assistance grant for preparation, and a 1.5 million euro grant under the EU Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) to design and build the city of Nis bypass.

Works on the Nis railway bypass are expected to start on June 1 at the latest, Vucic was quoted as saying by local broadcaster RTS.

"This railway section is part of the Pan-European Railway Corridor X (Xc branch) through Serbia and is currently the only part of the corridor still unelectrified, with traffic relying on diesel traction. Its electrification will provide a faster, greener and safer railway connection within the country and further on into Bulgaria," the EIB said.

Thanks to the project, train speeds will increase to up to 120 km/h from the current average of 50 km/h. This improvement is expected to significantly influence travel patterns, with the annual number of passengers projected to rise to about 550,000 from around 170,000. Additionally, the volume of total freight transport is estimated to increase to around 6.2 million tonnes from 3.2 million tonnes per year, the EIB noted.

Earlier in March, transport minister Goran Vesic said that Serbia will start the revamp of the 230-km railway line linking Belgrade with Nis in 2025, planning to increase train travel speed to 200 km/h and shorten the travel time to an hour and 40 minutes instead of the current six hours. In March 2023, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the EIB and the EU provided Serbia with a 2.2 billion euro financial package for the reconstruction and modernisation of the Belgrade-Nis railway line.

The Belgrade-Nis railway line forms part of Pan-European Corridor X connecting central Europe to Greece's Aegean port of Thessaloniki and is included in the EU’s Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans. Its branch - Corridor Xc, follows the route from Nis via Dimitrovgrad to Bulgaria's Sofia and Plovdiv and Turkey's Edirne and Istanbul, linking Belgrade with the capitals of Bulgaria and Turkey.

($ = 0.925 euro)