Minister of Infrastructure and Energy Milutin Mrkonjic and representatives from the Italian Railways announced yesterday that over the next year, the Belgrade–Trieste–Venice train will be reintroduced and will cover this distance in six to seven hours.
At a meeting with Italian representatives, Mrkonjic announced the beginning of the reconstruction of the Belgrade–Bar railway this year, as this is part of Corridor 11 which will link Italy, Montenegro, Serbia and Romania.
The Minister said that Serbia was given assurances during the recent visit of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to Belgrade that a part of the Russian loan worth €800 million will be used for modernisation of the railway from Belgrade to Bar.
Chief Executive of Italian Railways Mauro Moretti stated that Italy is contemplating technological aspects and administrative obstacles to enable the train to cover this distance within the specified time.
Moretti explained that the train from Belgrade to Venice will connect Serbia and north of Italy, passing through several European cities.
He added that Italian companies are interested in taking part in works on the reconstruction of the Belgrade-Bar railway and construction of the Belgrade metro.
Italian Ambassador to Serbia Armando Varicchio stressed that the economic relations between the two countries are good and that they will be given a new incentive with the upcoming visit to Serbia by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
He said that the relevant Italian minister, who will come on visit to Belgrade together with Berlusconi, will confirm Italy’s support to development of Corridor 10 in Serbia and the transport route towards Bar, Romania and Ukraine.
The visit of Italian railways representatives affirms Italy’s strategic relation towards Serbia, Varicchio underlined.
Source balkans.com
