Budapest–Belgrade railway

Budapest–Belgrade railway
Future HSR line connecting Belgrade with Budapest
Overview
StatusUnder construction
LocaleSerbia–Hungary
Termini
Stations7
Service
TypeHigh-speed rail
Operator(s)Serbian Railways (current)
History
Opened19 March 2022 (2022-03-19)
(Belgrade–Novi Sad)
Technical
Line length350 km (220 mi)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Operating speed200 km/h (125 mph)

The Budapest–Belgrade railway connects the capital cities of Hungary and Serbia – the Budapest Keleti railway station with the new Belgrade Centre railway station.

As a $2.89 billion, 350 km (220 mi) high-speed rail line project, the Budapest–Belgrade railway is also a part, and first stage, of the planned Budapest–Belgrade–Skopje–Athens railway international connection in Central and Southeast Europe, a Chinese-CEE hallmark project of Beijing's Belt and Road initiative, connecting the China-run Piraeus port in Greece with the heart of Europe.[1]

History

Historical advertisement, showing the Orient Express in 1888

The railway line between Budapest and Belgrade was used also by the Orient Express until 1914. The Orient Express was launched on 5 June 1883. It connected Paris and Constantinople (later renamed Istanbul).

Route, geography and landscapes

The plains of Vojvodina

The railway line between Budapest and Belgrade passes mainly the Bács-Kiskun County and the Serbian province of Vojvodina.[2]

Track condition, modernization

The outdated railway between Belgrade and Budapest will be modernised. The travel time should be decreased from eight hours to three and a half hours, and the maximum speed of the track is designed to be up to 200 km/h (125 mph) on the Serbian section and 160 km/h (100 mph) on the Hungarian section.[3] When the project is complete, the journey between Budapest and Belgrade will be reduced to 2h 40min.[4] According to the plans, the track should be modernised by 2025.[5]

Modernization of the Hungarian section

The Hungarian section (152 km (94 mi)) of the project was announced in 2015 to cost HUF 472 billion and expected to be completed as of 2017–2018.[6][7] Currently it is expected to cost HUF 949 billion ($3.6 billion) with interest.

In Hungary, the project is carried out by Kínai-Magyar Vasúti Nonprofit Zrt (Chinese-Hungarian Railway Nonprofit Ltd.), a Hungarian-Chinese joint venture of MÁV Zrt. with China Railway International Corporation (CRIC) and China Railway International Group (CRIG).[8][9][10] According to one estimate, the works on this section could begin in 2021, as one year is needed for the public procurement procedures, and two years for the planning and negotiation phase.[11] The investment is widely criticised as it will never recover its costs.[12]

The construction of the Hungarian part of the railway, 152 km, was started in October 2021 and is due to be completed by 2025.[13][3]

Modernization of the Serbian section

In Serbia some 200 km (120 mi), one of the segments, the 34.5 km (21.4 mi)-long section Belgrade-Stara Pazova was reconstructed by China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) together with China Railways International (CRI), with the investment of $350.1 million, funded with a loan from the Export-Import Bank of China.[14][15] The section Stara Pazova–Novi Sad was reconstructed by the Russian RZD International, financed with Russian credit.[15] The reconstruction of the section Novi Sad–Subotica began in 2022, with estimated cost of €943 million, built by CCCC[16] and a duration of 33 months, during which this section will be closed.[17]

The construction of the railway line in Serbia started in September 2017, when the construction of the Čortanovci tunnel began.[18] The 75 km railway for speed up to 200 km/h between Belgrade and Novi Sad opened on 19 March 2022 (this part was divided in two sections: as of 2018, the Belgrade–Stara Pazova 34.5 km section was planned to be finished in the end of 2020 and the Stara Pazova–Novi Sad 40.4 km section in November 2021).[4][19][20][21] The construction of the 107.4 km section between Novi Sad and Subotica (Hungarian border) was started on 7 April 2022 and is due to be completed by the end of November 2024.[22]

Bids of the Hungarian section

Only two consortia bid for the work. The winning consortium was announced June 2019. As with most public works since 2015[23][24] the government linked Hungarian entrepreneur, Lőrinc Mészáros[25] won, with his company “RM International Zrt”, along with two Chinese companies: China Tiejiuju Engineering & Construction LLC., and China Railway Electrification Engineering Group(Hungary) Ltd.[26]

Criticism

Although the section between Budapest and Belgrade will allow a four hours reduction in travel time, a further travel to the port of Piraeus was, as of 2017, still 2 to 4 days away by train from Belgrade.[27]

While the Hungarian government classified its analysis for the economic viability of the project for 10 years,[28] estimates in the non-government-owned media estimate the return around 130[29] to 2400[30] years based on the current and expected traffic on the line.[31]

Furthermore, the project was criticized for a lack of transparency as the Hungarian government forbade the publication of the contract for the next 10 years. This has raised concerns about potential corruption of the most expensive project in the history of Hungarian railways. Additionally, the project is viewed by some independent media as a part of the Hungarian and Serbian governments' reorientation away from the EU towards China, with this large non-transparent investment potentially being a way to leverage Chinese influence in these countries.[32]

See also

References

  1. ^ Shepard, Wade (25 February 2017). "Another Silk Road fiasco? China's Belgrade to Budapest high-speed rail line is probed by Brussels". Forbes. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  2. ^ "Vojvodina: Eigensinnige Provinz an der Donau". Die Presse (in German). Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  3. ^ a b A Budapest-Belgrád vasútvonal korszerűsítése - alapkőletétel (Modernization of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line: Laying the foundation), mavcsoport.hu, 15 October 2021.
  4. ^ a b Belgrade - Novi Sad line reopens following reconstruction, railjournal, 29 March 2022.
  5. ^ Moares, Romana (2021-11-29). "Work starts on high-speed Belgrade-Budapest railway". Industry Europe. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  6. ^ "Intergovernmental agreement on the modernisation of the Belgrade-Budapest railway line has been initialled in Beijing". Government. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  7. ^ "Még az idén megkezdődhet a Budapest-Belgrád vasútvonal modernizálása". Kormányzat (in Hungarian). Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  8. ^ "Hungary kicks off USD 3.6 billion Belgrade-Budapest rail line investment". The Budapest Beacon. 27 November 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  9. ^ Chinese-Hungarian Railway Nonprofit Ltd.: Chinese-Hungarian Railway Non-Profit Private Limited Company, in Hungarian: Kínai-Magyar Vasúti Nonprofit Zrt.: Kínai-Magyar Vasúti Nonprofit Zártkörűen Működő Részvénytársaság, 10 November 2016, on the MÁV website mavcsoport.hu)
  10. ^ "Hungary expects bids for Belgrade-Budapest railway works in March". seenews.com. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  11. ^ Vörös, Zoltán (4 January 2018). "Who Benefits From the Chinese-Built Hungary-Serbia Railway?". The Diplomat. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  12. ^ "130 év alatt térülhet meg a méregdrága kínai vasút". Index.hu (in Hungarian). 1 December 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  13. ^ Hungary launched Belgrade – Budapest line construction, railwaypro.com, November 2021.
  14. ^ "Serbia starts Belgrade-Stara Pazova railway overhaul - govt". seenews.com. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  15. ^ a b "Russia's RZD to start overhaul of part of Belgrade-Budapest railway in July". seenews.com. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  16. ^ "李克强见证匈塞铁路商务合同签署公司应邀参加中国-中东欧国家经贸论坛，孙子宇代表公司签约" (in Chinese). China Communications Construction. 11 July 2018. Archived from the original on 20 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  17. ^ Hajnalka, Miklós. "Brze pruge i savremene železničke stanice". Magyar Szó Online. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  18. ^ "Почела изградња тунела "Чортановци"". "Инфраструктура железнице Србије" ад (in Serbian). 2017-09-18. Archived from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 2018-10-07.
  19. ^ "Пруга Стара Пазова – Нови Сад до новембра 2021". Politika Online (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 2018-10-07.
  20. ^ "Почели радови на модернизацији пруге Београд – Будимпешта". "Инфраструктура железнице Србије" ад (in Serbian). 2017-11-28. Archived from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 2018-10-07.
  21. ^ Railway infrastructure in the Republic of Serbia regarding strengthening rail transport connectivity, Marko Jeremić, 2019.
  22. ^ "Subotica otvaramo 24. novembra, od Beograda do Subotice za 70 minuta". JMU Radio-televizija Vojvodine (in Serbian). 2024-10-03. Retrieved 2024-10-25.
  23. ^ Buckley, Neil; Byrne, Andrew (December 20, 2017). "Viktor Orban's oligarchs: a new elite emerges in Hungary". Financial Times. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  24. ^ "Viktor Orban's oligarchs: a new elite emerges in Hungary". archive.fo. 21 December 2017. Archived from the original on 21 December 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  25. ^ "Lőrinc Mészáros". The Orange Files. 1 June 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  26. ^ "Mészáros firm among winners of massive rail contract". Budapest Business Journal. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  27. ^ Bálint, Szalai (8 December 2017). "A kínaiaknak pont tökmindegy a Budapest–Belgrád-vasút". index.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  28. ^ ATV. "Budapest-Belgrád vasútvonal: Miért titkolózik a kormány?". ATV.hu. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  29. ^ Tamás, Mészáros (1 December 2017). "130 év alatt térülhet meg a méregdrága kínai vasút". index.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  30. ^ "2400 év alatt térülhet meg Orbán vasútja". Figyelő online. Archived from the original on 5 December 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  31. ^ "IHO - Vasút - Százhatvanra alkalmas, évezredek alatt térül meg – mi az?". iho.hu. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  32. ^ office, Kafkadesk Budapest (2020-05-15). "Belgrade-Budapest high-speed train: Highway to rail?". Kafkadesk. Retrieved 2023-07-26.