THE European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has agreed to provide a Euros 95m sovereign-guaranteed loan to Serbian Railways (ZS) to help upgrade the section of European Corridor 10 between Belgrade and the Croatian border.

The loan will support a Euros 290m project which includes the modernisation of the 14km Belgrade -Rakovica - Resnik section as well as 50km of track renewals.

Corridor 10 is the backbone of the ZS, carrying more than half of all rail traffic in Serbia, but much of the route is in poor condition with numerous speed restrictions.

The EBRD has already granted Serbia loans to support the Corridor 10 modernisation, including the upgrading of 112km of track between Belgrade and the Macedonian border as well as the electrification of the Niš - Dimitrovgrad branch.

Corridor 10 links Salzburg with Thessaloniki via Ljubljana, Zagreb, Belgrade, and Skopje.