"Nobody can break our friendship"

Photo shows the kickoff ceremony of the Hungry-Serbia Railway project

On November 22, local time, the Novi Sad-Subotica section in Serbia, part of the Hungry-Serbia Railway, kicked off construction in Novi Sad. Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto and Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Chen Bo attended the ceremony. Deputy head of China's National Development and Reform Commission Ning Jizhe addressed the ceremony via video link. The kickoff marked construction of the Novi Sad-Subotica section ofthe Hungry-Serbia Railway was officially begun.

Vucic said the Hungry-Serbia Railway, once completed, would reduce the trip between Novi Sad and Budapest to only two hours and five minutes. The project will create more jobs in Serbia, bring hope for a better life and boost Serbian economy. Speaking highly of the Chinese and Hungarian leaderships' role in promoting the cooperation with Serbia, he stressed that "Nobody can break our friendship!"

Szijjarto said the Hungry-Serbia Railway is a win-win project that will greatly benefit both Hungary and Serbia.

The Hungry-Serbia Railway runs 350 kilometers between Budapest and Belgrade, the capital cities of Hungary and Serbia, Central Europe, 166 kilometers in Hungary and 184 kilometers in Serbia. The Novi Sad-Subotica section extends 108.1 kilometers. The project department of the consortium of China Railway 11th Bureau Group Corporation Limited and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation undertakes the 52.3km section 1 as well as the 108.1km rail construction.

Photo shows the first drilling shaft is being piled, Novi Sad-Subotica section

So far, the first cast-in-place pile of the railway bridge at Novi Sad Station has been completed. After four test drillings by the management, technical and production teams, the project department has optimized the drilling process to adapt to local sandy soil and high underground water level and succeeded in the first pile. 

Upon completion, the Hungry-Serbia Railway will bring Serbia closer to the heart of Europe, help build the country into a regional transport and logistics hub, and elevate the BRI cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries to deeper and higher levels.