Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-06-24
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| A siding for high-speed trains at Guiyangbei Railway Station in Guizhou, June 18. (File photo/Xinhua) |
The
preparations for the construction of a Chinese high-speed railway between the
capital cities of Serbia and Hungary is underway and on schedule, Xinhua was
told by the Serbian Ministry of Transport, Construction and Infrastructure.
On a
three-day visit of Chinese vice premier Zhang Gaoli to Serbia which commenced
Monday, Serbian minister Zorana Mihajlovic explained that cooperation among the
three countries on the several-billion-dollar project had intensified.
Mihajlovic said they would discuss the feasibility study and financing for the
project of the modernization of the Belgrade-Budapest railway in mid-July.
Mihajlovic
told Xinhua that the railway was strategically the most important project of
cooperation with China, and the first one that involves more than one country
from the region of Central and Eastern Europe on a common project.
She said
that the railway from Belgrade to Budapest would be a part of the line that
directly links the port city of Piraeus in Greece with at least six to eight
Central and Eastern European countries and other Central and Western European
countries, as a part of the greater transport route Maritime Silk Road linking
the European and Asian continents.
Mihajlovic
revealed that Serbia, by starting the project, had shown that it "not only
welcomes and promotes the Chinese 'Road and Belt' initiative, but has taken
direct action in implementing it."
The project
for the modernization of the Belgrade-Budapest railway was initially agreed on
in 2013 at the China-Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries leaders'
meeting that took place in Bucharest, while at last year's summit held in
Belgrade, China, Hungary and Serbia signed a memorandum of understanding.
At that
point, Macedonia and Greece both expressed their willingness to partake in the
project that is planned to turn Piraeus, the main port of Greece, into a
Chinese hub for trade with Europe.
The
cooperation plan for the construction of the railway was signed in the
beginning of this year in Belgrade at the meeting of the Trilateral Group of
China, Hungary and Serbia for Traffic and Infrastructure Cooperation, setting
dates for certain phases of the project.
According
to the plan, the construction of the railway should begin by the end of 2015,
after the feasibility study and financial model are agreed upon, with the
railway scheduled to be fully completed in 2017.
The 370 km
section of the railway between Belgrade and Budapest will significantly improve
the transport of passengers and goods between the two countries, as it will
decrease the time of travelling of trains from eight to less than three hours.
Once
finished, the double track on the route between the Mediterranean and the
Danube will enable trains to run as fast as 200 km per hour, and this enables
China's land-sea passage to become a new, convenient channel for trade.
One of the
biggest expected impacts of the project is promoting the economic development
of Hungary, Serbia, and other countries along the passage, as well as to deepen
China's cooperation with countries in the region, with the hope of creating new
jobs and boosting development of industry and railways.
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