On March 19 local time in Serbia, the Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the Hungary-Serbia Railway (hereinafter referred to as the Belgrade-Novi Sad section) was opened for operation, marking significant progress in the Hungary-Serbia Railway, a key project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) co-built by China and Central and Eastern European countries.

After the opening, it takes only half an hour to travel from Belgrade to Novi Sad.

Serbian President Vucic, Hungarian Prime Minister Orban, Serbian Prime Minister Brnabic, and representatives of the railway construction contractor rode the first train after the opening of this section.

The Hungary-Serbia Railway is a crucial part of the Pan-European Corridor X and a flagship project of China's railway "going global" in Europe. It starts from Budapest, the capital of Hungary, and ends in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, with a total length of 350 kilometers (166 km in Hungary and 184 km in Serbia).

As China's first railway project in Europe, it is a key BRI project and achieves the first alignment of Chinese railway standards with European Union (EU) UIC standards.

After modernization, the Hungary-Serbia Railway will become an electrified double-track railway for both passenger and freight trains, with a design top speed of 200 km/h. The journey between Belgrade and Budapest will be shortened from the current eight hours to less than three hours, significantly enhancing the interconnectivity between Chinese and EU railways, bringing Serbia closer to other European regions, and helping Serbia become a regional transportation and logistics hub.

The Belgrade-Novi Sad section, which opened for operation this time, starts from Belgrade Station, passes through Stara Pazova Station, and ends at Novi Sad Station. It covers about 80 kilometers and consists of two sections: Belgrade-Stara Pazova and Stara Pazova-Novi Sad. The Belgrade-Stara Pazova section was built by a joint venture led by China Railway International Co., Ltd., in association with other Chinese construction companies such as China Communications Construction Company Ltd., with design involvement from China Railway Design Group Co., Ltd. Meanwhile, the joint venture subcontracted the communication signaling and electrification works for the Stara Pazova-Novi Sad section.