MÁV CEO reveals when passengers can travel from Budapest to Belgrade at 160 km/h

Infrastructure on the Hungarian stretch of the upgraded Budapest-Belgrade rail line is “fully complete”, Zsolt Hegyi, the CEO of state-owned MÁV group, said in a message on social media on Tuesday.

“The infrastructure is fully complete, including tracks, switches, platforms and overhead lines,” Hegyi said.

Freight trains started operating on the upgraded line, which is set to become part of a corridor for bringing Chinese goods to Europe, on Friday.

Hegyi said one more task still lays ahead: finalising the train control system for the line. Software testing is underway, he added, noting that finishing that is a condition for starting passenger train service at speeds up to 160km/h. Trains can currently travel on the line at speeds up to 100km/h, he said.

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