THE Serbian government says that it has secured an additional €100m in loan funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the project to upgrade the 86km line from Niš to Dimitrovgrad on the border with Bulgaria, which is now expected to cost €502m to complete.
Including the construction of a 22.4km bypass running to the north of Niš and electrification and resignalling throughout, work was estimated to cost a total of €268.3m when the EIB approved a €134m loan for the project in 2018.
According to the government, the increase in project cost to €502m is due to global supply chain disruption, delays in project preparation and the decision by the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure to improve safety on core sections of the national network.
In addition to EIB loans now totalling €234m, the government intends to fund the Niš - Dimitrovgrad upgrade with €162.1m from its own resources and €105.9m in grants from the European Union’s (EU) Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF).
An official groundbreaking ceremony for the project was held in April 2024, but work reportedly came to a halt in September last year. Earlier this year, the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure announced that work on the 10.2km Sukovo - Dimitrovgrad section began on July 17 under Phase II of the project.
The upgrade will raise the maximum speed on this section to 120km/h, which the ministry says will be a significant improvement on the current average speed of 30km/h.
The ministry adds that it continues to invest in network modernisation to improve the safety, efficiency and quality of rail operations, enhancing connectivity and stimulating economic development.
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