The first segment of the planned high-speed Budapest-Belgrade railway in Serbia has entered the stage of financial review. The project for the modernization of the Budapest-Belgrade railway is expected to kick off from July 2017, according to Wang Lijun, vice president of China Road and Bridge Corporation.

The railway, linking Budapest and Belgrade, is 350 km long, of which 184 km is in Serbia and the rest in Hungary. The railway will be China’s first project done in the European Union. Upon completion, the high-speed railway is expected to shorten the eight-hour trip to three hours.

The Budapest–Belgrade railway is an important international railway connection between Central- and Southeast Europe. The railway line between Budapest and Belgrade was used also by the Orient Express until 1914. The line will be designed for electrified passenger and cargo trains with a maximum speed of 200 km per hour. It’s estimated that the project will take two years to finish.

The project for the modernization of the Belgrade-Budapest railway was initially agreed on in 2013 at the China-Central and Eastern European countries leaders' meeting in Bucharest.

In October this year, a Chinese-Hungarian joint venture company that will be realizing the project, with 85 percent stake in Chinese firm and the rest in Hungarian's, was established. The total cost of the project is estimated around $2.89 billion, according to Hungarian government.