Think Railways

China, Hungary, Serbia and Macedonia signed the agreement on the modernisation of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line on Wednesday, in the framework of the Central Eastern Europe-China summit in Belgrade. The 370 km long railway line will allow faster transportation of China's exports to central Europe through Greece's port of Piraeus. The increase of the speed to 160 km/h will produce a reduction of journey time between Budapest and Belgrade  from 8 hours to approximately 2.5. hours .

"This will put in place a new corridor between China and Europe and we hope to see an increased exchange of goods between China and Europe. The potential for increased exchange and investments is big and a fast railway will definitely be beneficial for our trade and the development of all countries in the region," said the Chinese premier.

The project will be financed by the China Development Bank and its cots are estimated between EUR 1.5 to 2 billion.