SERBIA: The 90 km Požarevac – Majdanpek line southeast of Beograd reopened for freight traffic after five years of suspension on November 21, and passenger operator Srbija Voz expects to revive passenger services on February 19 next year.
Reopening follows a €92m rehabilitation project undertaken by Infrastruktura Železnice Srbije. The track has been replaced, with the infrastructure manager making use of materials recycled from its main line routes.
The project has raised the axle load from 16 tonnes to 22·5 tonnes and the maximum operating speed to to 80 km/h for passenger services and to 60 km/h for freight. As result the journey time for the reinstated passenger trains will be 90 min, compared to 5 h when speeds were restricted to less than 20 km/h before services were suspended.
