The Orient/East-Med Corridor (CX) runs between Salzburg in Austria and Thessaloniki in Greece. On its main course, it branches out to Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, and North Macedonia. Conditions of the railway tracks on this corridor vary, but large sections of the route can accommodate maximum travel speeds of only 60 km/h.
Serbia’s rail network comprises 3,819 km of track. Its backbone is located along the Orient/East-Med Corridor and includes Sid - Belgrade - Nis - Presevo route into North Macedonia, and further to Greece. The railway line Nis - Presevo is one of the oldest railway lines in Serbia and the most important part of Corridor X through Serbia. According to European AGC Agreement, the railway line Nis - Presevo combines the railway lines E-75 and E-80 and has the largest volume of transport operation on the railway lines of JSC "Serbian Railways". It has a total length of 151 km and is electrified using the single-phase 25 kV, 50 Hz system over the whole of its length.
With this investment project 92 km of railway track will be fully renovated on the sections Brestovac - Vinarci, Orevo - Vranjska Banja, Ristovac - Bujanovac i Bukarevac – Presevo – border North Macedonia.
The WBIF has provided two grants for technical assistance for the preparation of the project for construction, from feasibility study, environmental and social impact assessment, preliminary design, to tender documentation. The project is expected to be completed by December 2025.
| Beneficiary Contribution | Own Contribution | € 33,850,000 | |
| EIB | Loan | € 250,000,000 | |
| WBIF | Grant | WB19-SRB-TRA-03 | € 6,854,502 |
| WBIF | Grant | TA-SER-15 | € 500,000 |
| Anticipated WBIF INV Grant | External Grant | € 157,500,000 | |
| Total | € 448,704,502 | ||
| Total Grants | € 7,354,502 | ||
| Total Loans | € 250,000,000 | ||
