Budapest–Belgrade–Skopje–Athens railway

The Budapest–Belgrade–Skopje–Athens railway, a China-CEE hallmark project (2014) of Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative,[2] is a planned railroad international connection in Central and Southeast Europe – between Budapest (Hungary), Belgrade (Serbia), Skopje (North Macedonia), Athens and its China-run port of Piraeus (Greece).

The first section, the Budapest–Belgrade railway – a $2.89 billion, 350 km (220 mi) high-speed rail line – should have been finished in two years, but is lagging behind due to an EU investigation into possible violations of its public tendering requirements.

[2] In a 2012/13 EC report, Priority Project 22: Railway axis Athens–Sofia–Budapest–Vienna–Prague–Nuremberg/Dresden (PP22),[1] the planners included their considerations of the Balkan route, which follows Pan-European Corridor X through Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia and Greece (Thessaloniki–Skopje–Belgrade–Budapest/Zagreb–Ljubljana–Graz/Salzburg) and shortens the present Athens–Budapest route via Bulgaria and Romania by 330 km (210 mi).

The planners appeal to the politicians: "In the medium term it may become necessary to tailor priorities in line with what is feasible, both for the European Union, the main provider of funding, and the Member States concerned.

In this respect, Croatia’s accession to the European Union in July 2013 and discussions with the [r]epublics of the former Yugoslavia in connection with the review of TEN–T policy present a useful opportunity to develop rail links between south–east and central Europe via the western Balkans.

[3] The Hungarian section (152 km (94 mi)) of the project was announced in 2015 to cost HUF 472 billion and expected to be completed as of 2017–2018.

[22] In July 2020, President Aleksandar Vučić announced that the Belgrade-Niš railway would be 204 km long and would be completed by the end of 2023, with speeds of up to 200 km/h (124 mph), bringing Belgrade and Niš within 1 hour and 20 minutes of each other.