Vesic: Construction of first Belgrade Metro stations in Banovo Brdo to start by end of year

Serbia's high-speed Soko ("Falcon") train; Photo: Tanjug/Strahinja Acimovic

Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesic said today that the signing of a contract to build a section of the future Metro in Belgrade is expected, as well as that work on the first stations in Banovo Brdo should begin by the end of the year.

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At Makisko Polje, works on filling up the ground for the construction of the main depot are underway, and Vesic recalled that this had started in December 2021, while the deadline is 2024.

"But, in some parts, the embankment has already been completed and we are expecting the signing of a contract to build the depot. When the filling up is finished, the construction of the depot will begin, where all the trains will be parked," Vesic told TV Pink.

The digging of the tunnels for the first two Metro lines should begin in 2025, and three lines are planned: Makis-Mirijevo, Mirijevo-Bezanija and Bezanija-Banjica.

The originally planned Manjez station will now be near Slavija in Kralja Milana Street, while the previously planned station in Mekenzijeva Street will be in Karadjordjev Park, where it will have connection with the BG Voz (BG Train) station, so passengers will be able to transfer there.

"On line 2 we had two stations, Block 18 and Sava Center, but now a new station is planned instead of those two, and it will be on the corner of Vladimira Popovica Street and Zorana Djindjica Boulevard (in New Belgrade). And the station near the Arena has been moved to the Antifasisticke Borbe Street," specified Vesic.

The first line should be completed in 2028, and the second in 2030.

"When BG Voz is extended to Surcin, to the (future) National Stadium and the airport, as well as to Obrenovac, and when we introduce more departures from Lazarevac, Sopot, Mladenovac and Barajevo and when the first two Metro lines start service, then we will have more than 80 percent of public transport on the rails," said Vesic.

He stressed that the construction of the first Metro stations in Banovo Brdo is expected to begin by the end of the year.

"That's where it's the hardest, because there's a rock mass there, which is difficult and most demanding, and that's why those stations will be worked on first," explained Vesic.

The business manager of the Power China company, which is carrying out the field works on the filling up, Yun Fang, said he believes that the job will be completed before the deadline, that is, before December 2024, adding that every day about 200 workers are engaged, doing their best to make Belgrade's dream of having a Metro system true.

The construction of the Belgrade Metro is the largest infrastructure project in the Serbian capital, worth 4.6 billion euros.

(Telegraf.rs)