June 14 (SeeNews) - Serbian rail freight railway operator Srbija Kargo has invested 64 million euro ($72.2 million) in the acquisition of 16 locomotives, the Serbian government said.
The new locomotives, of the Vectron series made by Siemens Mobility, were launched officially at the Resnik railway station in the presence of infrastructure minister Zorana Mihajlovic, the government said in a statement on Thursday.
Srbija Kargo has hired about 180 young engine-drivers in the last two years, Mihajlovic said, adding that the government intends to revamp railway lines with a total length of 500 kilometres by the end of 2020.
Srbija Kargo was established in August 2015 following the unbundling of railway operator Zeleznice Srbije into a holding company with three subsidiaries under the terms of a stand-by arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) signed in February of that year.
($ = 0.8862 euro)