October 10 (SeeNews) - Serbia expects to complete the project for expansion and upgrade of the railway depot in Zemun at the beginning of 2022 at the latest, finance minister Sinisa Mali said.
The project will be completed at the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022, allowing for a more secure railway transport in Belgrade and in Serbia, Mali said in a statement on Tuesday.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said on Tuesday it signed an agreement to provide a 22 million euro ($25.3 million) loan package for the renewal of Serbia’s state railways. A total of 17 million euro will be invested in the expansion and upgrade of the railway depot in Zemun, transforming it into the central maintenance site for the fleet of the state railway company Srbija Voz, the sole passenger service operator in the country.
"With this money, we will build 14,000 square metres of space, 19,000 square metres of existing space will be completely reconstructed and 17.4 km of new tracks will be laid. The Zemun depot is an integral part of the Belgrade Railway Node and the new Prokop railway station," Mali said.
The agreement was signed in Belgrade by Mali, the acting general director of Srbija Voz, Jugoslav Jovic, and by the EBRD Director for Transport, Sue Barrett.
($ = 0.870442 euro)