Corridor X runs between Salzburg in Austria and Thessaloniki in Greece, passing through Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia and Greece. It constitutes an important transport route that sustainably connects Western to Central and South-Eastern Europe.
Several bottlenecks along Corridor X route through Serbia have been identified, for which rehabilitation and/or expansion works need to be implemented. The Stalać - Djunis section constitutes one such bottleneck. It is a 17 km long single-track line, the only segment of the Belgrade - Niš line that is not double track, which only allows for a maximum axle load of 22.5 t and a maximum speed of 65 km/h (Stalać - Braljina) and respectively 85 km/h (Braljina - Djunis).
WBIF has provided a grant for the preparation of a Feasibility Study, Preliminary Design and Environmental and Social Impact Assessment for the upgrades to the railway track.
Once the Stalać - Djunis section becomes double-track and fully upgraded, the entire railway Corridor X through Serbia, from the Croatian border (Šid station) through Belgrade to Niš, would become double-track. Consequently, the trains would be able to travel at a maximum speed of 160 km/h on a route of around 50 km long, between Jagodina and Djunis, thus increasing the capacity of the track from 102 trains to 213 pairs of trains. The planned improvements will also contribute to decreasing the rolling stock maintenance expenditure, as well as the overall environmental, maintenance and accident costs.
