Vesic: High-speed rail line to Budapest to be completed by 2025

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesic met with Hungarian counterpart Janos Lazar in Belgrade on Tuesday.

Vesic said a high-speed rail line between Belgrade and Budapest would be completed by 2025 and that it had been agreed that trains would not have to stop at the border.

Vesic and Lazar met in the Serbian government building to discuss the Belgrade-Budapest high-speed rail line project and advancement of rail and road traffic between the two countries.

Vesic said the agreement meant that customs and border crossings should be in Belgrade and Budapest.

"There will be no stopping at the border - that is exactly the essence of high-speed railways," he said.

Vesic said they had also discussed two other rail lines - between Subotica and Szeged and between Subotica and Baja.

"I informed my Hungarian colleague Serbia is starting the construction of its traffic route from the Backi Breg border crossing to the Nakovo border crossing with Romania," Vesic said.

He noted that Serbia and Hungary were not merely neighbours but strategic partners and countries that were cooperating closely and shared a joint vision of their future.

He said they had also discussed the Danube as an untapped opportunity for Serbia and, in part, for Hungary, too.

"We will address projects on the Danube more because it is an opportunity for our two countries," Vesic said, announcing that the two countries would introduce a shipping line between Belgrade and Budapest.

Lazar said the objective of the meeting was to strengthen rail and road transport.

"We will build a rail line between Budapest and Belgrade. We will connect Subotica and Szeged by rail and build a rail line between Subotica and Baja. In addition, we will build new motorways along state borders and ensure access to motorways at both Tompa and Hercegszanto," Lazar said, adding that the objective was to simplify border crossing procedures for Hungarian and Serbian citizens.