Reconstruction of Subotica-Horgos-Hungarian State Border Railway

The reconstruction and modernization of the Subotica-Horgos-Hungarian state border (-Szeged) railway should be completed by November next year, and the value of the works on the Serbian part of the railway is RSD 12.3 billion, that is, around EUR 100 million. The ceremony held to mark the beginning of the works was attended by the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, and the prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban.

The regional railway Subotica-Szeged was built 150 years ago and is now closed. It used to be a one-track, non-electrified railway. The length of the railway in the territory of Serbia, from Subotica, through Horgos, to the Hungarian border, is 26.6 kilometers, and, in the Hungarian territory, it is 12.6 kilometers.

Following the reconstruction, the speed of the trains on that railway will increase from 60-80 to 120 kilometers per hour.

The railway will serve as a bypass route while the Belgrade-Budapest railway is closed due to the modernization.

Orban reminded that a fast railway which will connect Belgrade and Budapest was under construction and also advocated the reconstruction of the railway on the Subotica-Baja route.

Vucic said that the EU had financed the preliminary project for the construction of the Subotica-Szeged railway and that, for the realization of that project, Serbia had secured EUR 86.7 million from the budget and a loan from OTP Bank.

– It is of great importance that this railway will be connected with the fast railway Belgrade-Budapest, because that will make this entire area a development hub for commerce, tourism and cooperation of citizens – Vucic said.