Vesic: Budapest-Athens high-speed rail line to be historic

BELGRADE - Thanks to Monday's agreement between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greece will join a project to build a 1,500 km high-speed rail line from Budapest to Athens, which will be a historic victory for the Western Balkans, with Corridor 10 to become one of the most important European transport corridors, says Serbian Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesic.

"That is a historic victory for Serbia. Thanks to President Aleksandar Vucic, we have another country, an EU member state, in our project to build a HSR line that will allow all of central and western Europe to reach Greece through Corridor 10 via Serbia and North Macedonia," Vesic told Pink TV on Tuesday.

He said the project would change the lives of people in Serbia and other countries and expedite passenger and goods transport.

Vesic added that a high-speed train journey from Budapest to Athens would take 13 hours, while a trip from Belgrade to Thessaloniki would take around six hours and that there would be no stopping at borders.

"People will be able to travel faster and we will be connected to the Thessaloniki and Piraeus ports, which is the most important thing for economic development. The president noted that Serbia is ready to cooperate with Greece on a lease of the Piraeus and Thessaloniki ports because having port capacities is important for us, which will be discussed, but the rail line is a precondition for that," Vesic also said.