A new Chinese-built high-speed train was unveiled in Belgrade on Friday during a ceremony attended by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
The new train has 250 seats and can reach a speed of up to 200 km per hour. It features intelligent diagnostics, maintenance, ticket sales systems, space for wheelchairs, toilets for people with reduced mobility, and storage for bicycles and bulky luggage.
Vucic announced at the ceremony at Zemun train station that Serbia has ordered five trains from the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC), for passenger transport along the soon-to-be-completed Serbian section of the Belgrade-Budapest railway.
The president highlighted that the 180-km trip from Belgrade to Subotica, near the Serbia-Hungary border, will take just one hour and 10 minutes.
The 350-km-long Belgrade-Budapest railway is under construction by a consortium of Chinese companies.
The Chinese contractors have so far successfully completed the railway between the capital of Belgrade and Serbia's second-biggest city, Novi Sad, and will extend this railway to Subotica by December 2024.
Vucic also noted that the reconstructed Belgrade-Novi Sad railway, which opened in March 2022, has revitalized Serbia's railway transport.
The Belgrade-Budapest railway is one of the flagship projects of China's Belt and Road Initiative in Europe, thanks to cooperation between China, Hungary and Serbia.
Serbia unveils Chinese-built high-speed train in Belgrade
