Trains from Belgrade to Budapest from February 20

The Hungarian government plans to open the Budapest-Belgrade railway to traffic on February 20, 2026, Hungarian Transport Minister Janos Lazar said, according to the Budapest-based German newspaper Budapester Zeitung.

According to the newspaper, Lazar, reporting to the parliamentary committee on the economy on the activities of his Ministry of Construction and Transport, said that he could not reveal details about the terms of the Chinese loan for the construction of the railway, as it was a business secret that could only be disclosed with the consent of both parties.

He said in parliament yesterday that the construction of the section in Serbia had been a little slower recently, while the construction of the section through Hungary had accelerated.

The Belgrade-Subotica section has already been opened to traffic in Serbia.

Trains on the Belgrade-Budapest railway through Hungary should operate at speeds of up to 160 kilometers per hour.

Janos Lazar described the recently approved loan from the European Investment Bank, which will soon start a project to rebuild the railway network in Hungary worth almost 800 billion forints (about 2.1 billion euros), as a huge success. This involves the reconstruction of thousands of kilometers of tracks, and according to Lazar, the funds have been fully secured.

His ministry employs a total of 1,930 people, and with its affiliated institutions and companies, it is the largest employer in Hungary. The MAV-Volan group (Hungarian Railways) alone employs almost 50,000 people.