“Serbian Railways” Director General Dragoljub Simonović and Hungarian Railways President-Director General Ilona David signed today, in Serbian Government, a Memorandum of understanding, in which they pledged to cooperate in development, negotiation and implementation of the Belgrade–Novi Sad – Kelebija –Budapest railway project, which will be financed from the loan for Central European countries of the People`s Republic of China.

The value of the project is EUR 1.5 billion and works will be performed on Beograd–Novi Sad –Subotica line. The railway track is designed for average speed of 160 km/h, but on some sections 200 km/h is also possible- explained “Serbian Railways” Director General Dragoljub Simonović.

Before the Memorandum was signed, a meeting of mixed working group composed of representatives of both railways and responsible ministries of the two countries. The meeting was opened by Milutin Mrkonjić, Minster of Infrastructure and Energy in Serbian Government, and His Excellency Hungarian Ambassador, Oskar Nikovic.

-According to the French experts assessments Belgrade-Budapest line is the most important in this part of Europe and it is necessary to start with realization of this project as soon as possible – said Minister Mrkonjić. The section in question is almost 400km long and today journey takes 8 hours, and in 3-4 years, when line beomes equipped for the speeds up to 160 km/h, the travel time will be cut in half – implied Mrkonjić.

His Excellency, Hungarian Ambassador, Oskar Nikovic, expressed his pleasure with realization of these infrastructure ventures which are used to improve the relationships between these two neighbor countries, especially in smaller border towns.

Members of the mixed working group achieved agreement to meet again in mid June in Belgrade in order to agree details on continuation of cooperation. The host of the meeting will be Serbian Railways.