Price of first line of BG Subway doubled in 4 years – Section from Zeleznik to Mirijevo to cost up to EUR 3.8 billion

The first line of the Belgrade Subway from Zeleznik to Mirijevo will cost between EUR 3.5 and 3.8 billion, but the final price will be known at the end of January, when the agreement for Lot 3 is signed and when the agreements for the second part of the construction of the subway, the systems and the trains, are signed, stated the director of the PUC Belgrade Metro and Train, Andreja Mladenovic. The price for the line of 21 km, with 21 stations, has been doubled since 2020, considering that the then deputy mayor of Belgrade, Goran Vesic, announced in October that year that the project of the Belgrade Subway was worth EUR 4.4 billion, of which the first line EUR 1.8 billion, and the second EUR 2.2 billion.

The price difference is even bigger considering the announcements from the end of December of 2018, when, according to the decision of the City Assembly of Belgrade, the company for the construction of the subway was founded. Vesic stated at the time that the total value of the works would amount to EUR 3.6 billion, of which the first phase would cost EUR 1.3 billion.

In May of 2021, Vesic said that EUR 4.6 billion would be set aside for the first two subway lines and that the Government of Serbia would finance the project.

– EUR 4.6 billion for the first two subway lines, that’s four annual budgets of the City of Belgrade. The city could not finance it by itself – Vesic said at the time.

Only several months later, in November of 2021, the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, announced that, due to the increase in the prices of building materials, the price of the construction of the first two lines of the Belgrade Subway could increase from EUR 4.6 billion to over EUR 5 billion.

– If you look at the first two lines alone, that could be 4 billion and 600 thousand, and knowing how the prices of building materials are growing, it will go over 5 billion, which is an incentive for the further growth and higher salaries – Vucic said at the time.

Boring to start in 2026

According to the most recent announcements, the construction of the first line could be completed in 2030, and the works on the section from Zeleznik to the Pancevo Bridge are to start first. This section is 15 kilometers long. According to Andreja Mladenovic, the plan is for the boring to start in 2026.

Let us remind that, as announced earlier, Phase 1 of the first line encompasses a section with a total of 14 stations: Zeleznik, Makis, Zarkovo, Bele vode, Trgovacka Street, Pozeska Street, Banovo Brdo Park, Ada Ciganlija, Belgrade Fair, Gazela Bridge, Sava Square, Republic Square, Skadarlija and Danube.

– In February, two TBMs – moles will be ordered, which will be prepared in about a year. At the future station Bele Vode, one of the moles will dig through to the Fair, and the other from the Pancevo bridge to the Fair. The plan is for the boring to start from June of 2026 – Andreja Mladenovic said for TV K1.

Three moles will be procured for the entire first line, and their prices are around EUR 20 million per machine, added the director of the PUC Belgrade Metro and Train.

Recently, representatives of the Government of Serbia, the City of Belgrade and the Chinese company PowerChina signed the agreement on the construction of the first phase of Line 1 of the Belgrade Subway, worth EUR 720 million.

The agreement for Lot 2 of the first phase of Line 1 of the Belgrade Subway encompasses the preparation of the project and the execution of the works, including the preparatory activities and the procurement of TBMs for the boring of the tunnels, and the preparatory and construction works are planned to last 45 months, plus two years.

As pointed out, the new agreement enables the separation of the special Lot 2, which will be financed from the budget of Serbia and which comes into effect immediately, which will “contribute to a quicker realization of the construction of the first phase of Line 1 of the Belgrade Subway.”

I. Z.

JKP Beogradski metro i voz Beograd

Grad Beograd

Vlada Republike Srbije

Power Construction Corporation of China Limited Ogranak Beograd

PUC Belgrade Metro and Train

City of Belgrade

Government of Serbia

PowerChina

Andreja Mladenovic

first phase of line 1 of Belgrade Subway

construction of first subway line

subway line 1 phase 1

price of subway

subway price

price of fist subway line