Construction of Belgrade-Nis Fast Railway to Start – Tender for Stalac-Djunis Section Announced for July 5, Plan Also Includes 5 Tunnels and Another Track

The EU Delegation to Serbia has issued the prior information notice of the opening of the tender for the reconstruction of the existing track and the construction of a new one on the Stalac-Djunis section, on the Belgrade-Nis railway.

According to the prior information notice, the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia has requested the European Investment Bank (EIB) to provide financing for the Belgrade–Nis Railway Project. The contracting authority is JSC Serbian Railways Infrastructure.

The job will be split into two lots, the first of which entails tunnelling and civil works for Tunnel no. 4 on the Stalac-Djunis section, whereas the second one entails the construction of a second track on the Belgrade-Nis railway, Stalac-Djunis section in the municipality of Cicevac, along with the construction of another 4 tunnels through the Stalac Gorge.

The total length of Tunnel 4 is 3,275 meters, and the first lot entails the preparation of project documentation, tunneling and construction of a new single-tube, two-track tail tunnel on the 182+325.00 km of the Belgrade-Nis railway. The scope of the works covers all the necessary tunneling and construction works, but not electrification, signalization and telecommunications, which are part of the second lot.

The second lot entails the designing and construction activities for the reconstruction and modernization of the existing railway and the construction of a second track of the Belgrade-Nis railway, Stalac-Djunis section. This section is the only one-track section on the Belgrade-Nis railway, and the plan is for 17.77 km of the 22-km one-track railway to be turned into a two-track railway.

This job, as said, entails the preparation of project documentation, reconstruction of the exit track and construction of a second track for the maximum speed of 160 km/h, as well as the construction of four tunnels (nos. 1, 2, 3 and 5).

It is added that the scope of the works within the second lot includes all the necessary tunneling and construction works, as well as the electrification, signalization and telecommunications.

The projected date of the publishing of the tender is July 5, 2021.

The details of the prior information notice can be found HERE.

Let us remind that, in April, during the visit of the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vucic, to Brussels, there was an announcement that the European Union is ready to support the construction of the railway between Belgrade and North Macedonia, one of whose sections is the Belgrade-Nis railway.

As Vucic specified, five options were discussed, and Serbia accepted option 4, with a construction price of EUR 1.766 billion for the section to Nis. He added that at least EUR 600 million of this sum would be provided by the EU.

He later announced that the construction of the railway might begin as soon as the spring of 2022 and said that the works would be completed in 2026.

In early May, the prime minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabic, announced that around 56% of the Belgrade-Nis railway would be designed for the speed of 200 km/h.

According to earlier announcements, some sections of this railway will be designed for the speed of 160 km/h in order to make them cost-effective.

B. P.

Delegacija Evropske unije u Republici Srbiji Beograd

Evropska investiciona banka EIB

Ministarstvo finansija Republike Srbije

Infrastruktura Železnice Srbije Beograd

Stalać

Đunis

Stalać Gorge

Belgrade Niš railway

Stalać Đunis railway

fast railway

200 kilometers per hour

tunnels