Pasztor: Trains between Belgrade and Budapest should run every two hours, railroad could be operational from September 15

The President of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, Balint Pasztor, stated that the work on expanding the Roszke-Horgos border crossing between Hungary and Serbia was planned to be completed in the coming days, that the capacity would be increased, but he assessed that the main problem was the number of people involved and the way of working.

He told the Subotica Hungarian Radio that another one would be added to the places where there were border crossings, which meant that Roszke-Horgos 3 and Tompa-Kelebija 2 crossings would be established, and that that was a multi-year project, RTV Panon reported.

He reminded that the Serbian-Hungarian border was the busiest border in all of Europe and that the jams were enormous.

– All those who are heading from northern Europe to a summer resort in the south go through us. The second reason is that all workers, not only from Serbia but also from the entire Balkans who work in Europe, pass through here, and considering that this is also the Schengen border, we have this situation – explained Pasztor.

He added that there were situations when there were software downtimes, and more modern solutions were now being sought for simplified border crossing, primarily for passengers who travel to Hungary to work every day. He also recommended that passengers consider the possibility of crossing the border by train from Subotica to Szeged, because in that case the waiting at the border was significantly shorter.

– When the train line between Belgrade and Budapest starts in a few months, it will be a huge incentive for crossing the border, because traveling by train will be safer and faster than by car – said Pasztor.

He reiterated that he did not want to talk about the deadlines for when the high-speed railroad between Subotica and Belgrade, and then between Belgrade and Budapest, would open, because no one could predict that, stating that everything was in the hands of construction experts.

– The experts will be able to say this when all the load tests, statics and other expert construction analyses are completed. Last time, there was talk of the possibility of the railway being put into service in August, now it has turned out that it could be on September 15. This time too, I am not talking about deadlines, but I think that this could be a realistic date – said the leader of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians.

He added that trains between Belgrade and Budapest should run every two hours.

He explained that before that, freight traffic, which ran via Szeged, had to switch to a second track, on which traffic between Belgrade and Budapest would take place, which might result in more departures on the railroad between Subotica and Szeged.

He recalled that there had originally been supposed to be two departures between Subotica and Szeged, but that through contacts with the Hungarian side they had managed to establish five departures.

– When the Belgrade-Budapest train line starts, it will also have a positive impact on the Subotica-Szeged train, and not only because freight traffic will be redirected. The Belgrade-Novi Sad-Subotica railway will start, and when the construction of the railway is completed in Hungary, all the way to Budapest too, and from what I know, that is possible by the end of the year – announced Pastor.

Balint Pasztor

border crossing Roszke Horgos

Belgrade Budapest fast railroad