THE president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, presented the country’s new national strategy, Serbia 2030, on March 7. The 10-point plan prioritises infrastructure development, including the rehabilitation or construction of 1392.7km of railway by 2035.
While some scepticism has been voiced about the deliverability of the railway element of the plan, Vučić says he believes it can be delivered, providing a detailed overview of all ongoing and proposed rail projects during his address at the Palace of Serbia in Belgrade.
He confirms that work is currently underway on 289.1km of new construction projects, which will be completed by 2030. They include:
- Zemun Polje - Nikola Tesla Airport - National Stadium (18.3km)
- Niš - Brestovac (23.4km)
- Niš bypass (22.5km), and
- Sobovica - Lužnica, the Batočina branch, which will serve industrial areas in Kragujevac, (16.2km).
Several sections of the Belgrade - Niš main line are currently being upgraded, which will increase the maximum speed to 160-200km/h, including Niš - Dimitrovgrad (86km), Stalac - Djunis (23km), and Paraćin - Trupale (79.7km). The plan also includes the modernisation of the Šargan Eight narrow-gauge railway in western Serbia (20km).
Other lines targeted for reconstruction and modernisation include:
- Pančevo - Zrenjanin - Subotica (200km)
- Vrbas - Sombor (53km)
- Ruma - Šabac - Loznica (110km)
- Zaječar - Prahovo Pristanište (74km)
- Rimski Šančevi - Orlovat (65km), and
- Valjevo - Vrbnica - Montenegro border (209.8km).
Major projects
Vučić highlights the scale and complexity of the Valjevo - Vrbnica project, which traverses difficult terrain. “For us this is the most complicated but extremely important line and we will invest a huge amount of money there,” he says.
In addition, Vučić identifies the following upgrade projects totalling 162.65km that will be completed by 2030:
- Rimski Šančevi - Sajlovo - Futog (8km)
- Kragujevac - Kraljevo (18km)
- Knjaževac - Niš (32km)
- Majdanpek - Vražogrnac (4km)
- Brasina - Donja Borina - Zvornik Grad (5.6km)
- Rasputnica 3 - Rgotina (27.05km)
- Doljevac - Žitorađa (10km)
- Sokolovica - Negotin (18km), and
- Šarganska - Osmica (40km).
Further projects that are planned to be completed by 2035 include additional sections of the Belgrade - Niš line between Velika Plana and Paraćin (61.75km) and Resnik - Velika Plana (85.5km), along with Šabac - Loznica (11km).
Vučić expects the following new construction projects to be completed by 2035:
- National Stadium - Obrenovac (18km)
- Beli Potok - Vinča - Pančevo (Danube) (29.9km), part of the Belgrade bypass
- Subotica - Baja (13km), and
- Negotin - Vidin, Bulgaria (10km).
Chinese involvement
Recent railway development in Serbia has relied on Chinese suppliers. CRRC has supplied locomotives as well as and securing orders for nine 120km/h EMUs for suburban services, delivery of which is due to be completed by the end of this year.
CRRC has also supplied five four-car 200km/h Soko or Falcon trains to operate on the Belgarde - Budapest line, which has been rebuilt and upgraded for 200km/h operation by Chinese contractors and suppliers. Vučić inaugurated the final section of the line in Serbia in October 2025 while freight services on the Hungarian section commenced last month.
Vučić indicates that Serbia will continue on this path under its new rail strategy. “Now we know who works faster, who works slower, we know who we can work with, and I believe that these experiences will be meaningful to us,” he says. “We will not let politics stop us from building and progressing important infrastructure.”
