SERBIA: Trial running at up to 200 km/h has begun on the extensively upgraded and double-tracked Beograd – Novi Sad line, ahead of the planned launch of passenger services in March.
This will be the first route suitable for 200 km/h running in the former Yugoslavia. The fastest trains before 1991 reached 160 km/h in Croatia, and Slovenia has since introduced 160 km/h running for its Pendolino tilting trains.
Serbian infrastructure manager Infra ŽS is conducting the trials using two MRCE Siemens Taurus locomotives and a DB Systemtechnik measuring car, with testing scheduled to last until February 4.
The main contractors for the modernisation of the 75 km Beograd – Stara Pazova section of the route were China Railway International and China Communications Construction Co.
Russian Railways subsidiary RZD International was main contractor for the 40 km Stara Pazova – Novi Sad section under a deal worth US$248m. This included the construction of three viaducts, 19 bridges, a station at Beška, and the Čortanovci tunnel.
