The Hungarian section of the Budapest-Belgrade railway, which cost about 800 billion forints, officially started running regular freight trains early this morning, marking that the line has entered the trial operation stage for actual transportation scenarios after completing closed testing.
Zolt Hégy, CEO of the Hungarian State Railways (MÁV), announced on social media that daily freight trains have begun to operate on the rebuilt railway line 150, and emphasized that before resuming passenger operations, various technical and safety indicators of the line must be tested through real freight operations. He said that all relevant measurement and track test results show that the line fully meets the infrastructure conditions and traffic safety standards required for freight train operation.
Hegy said that the renovation of Line 150 is one of the largest railway investment projects in Hungary in recent years. The old single-track railway of about 160 kilometers from Ferencvaros in Budapest to Kelebia Station on the Hungary-Serbia border has now been upgraded to a modern double-track line with a design speed of 160 kilometers per hour, and is equipped with the "most advanced" passenger transport infrastructure. * This means that after the opening of passenger traffic in the future, the line's capacity and operating speed will be significantly improved, and it is regarded as one of the key trunk lines in the Hungarian railway network.
Regarding the specific opening time of passenger service, the CEO has not yet given a clear date, but according to previous news, passenger service is expected to start at the end of March. Serbia has said that the cheapest ticket price between the two capitals may be 32 euros, while according to Hungary's domestic political stance, the fare may be controlled at about 25 euros, showing a certain difference in fare expectations between the two sides.
The modernization project of the Budapest-Belgrade railway was first decided upon by the Hungarian government in 2014, and was officially promoted as one of the landmark demonstration projects of China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative in Central and Eastern Europe. The total investment in Hungary exceeds 800 billion forints, about 85% of which comes from preferential loans provided by China. The construction and renovation of road sections in Hungary mainly rely on this financing channel. Previous investigative reports pointed out that the interest circles of Lorenc Meszaros, an important figure in the Hungarian business community, and Prime Minister Orban Jozo obtained substantial economic benefits during the construction of the project, triggering continued attention from the outside world to the project's transparency and benefit distribution pattern.
With the launch of freight trains, the Budapest-Belgrade railway has gradually transitioned from the long-term construction and testing phase to the actual operation phase on the Hungarian side, which is regarded as a key node of this large-scale infrastructure project. In the following weeks and months, the stability and safety of freight operations will become an important benchmark to test the effectiveness of this high-investment project. When the passenger service will be officially opened and how the fares will be finally determined will continue to be the focus of public and political attention in Hungary and Serbia.