The state of Serbia’s railway infrastructure is in a much worse condition than a recent report suggests, highlighting severe deficiencies on the high-speed railway from Belgrade’s Prokop station to Novi Sad, operational for only three years. Vladimir Maksimović, the newly appointed acting director of Infrastructure Railways of Serbia, revealed these shortcomings in a 135-page report. However, the situation took a more alarming turn when it was revealed that Maksimović mistakenly sent a request to address the deficiencies to an outdated email address, and did not reach out to the appropriate overseeing body, Deutsche Bahn, which was responsible for supervising the project.
The high-speed railway from Belgrade to Novi Sad will be temporarily halted beyond Petrovaradin starting November 1, 2024, after the collapse of the Novi Sad station’s canopy, which tragically killed 16 people. Maksimović’s report listed hundreds of deficiencies, but due to the failure to properly address them in a timely manner, it is now too late to hold contractors accountable for these issues.
The Project Bureau Utiber, which was involved in supervising the project, confirmed that their contractual obligations expired years ago, meaning they no longer have the authority to demand repairs. The contracts for supervision expired in 2023 for the section from Belgrade to Stara Pazova, and in 2022 for the section from Stara Pazova to Novi Sad. As a result, the Railway Infrastructure should have taken responsibility for rectifying the defects while the contractor’s warranties were still valid.
Further complicating matters, the Ministry of Construction, Transport, and Infrastructure issued temporary use permits for the railway sections in March 2022, despite ongoing deficiencies. These decisions were made quickly, and it was stated that the observed issues “do not affect the stability and functionality” of the railway, even though the defects were significant enough to cause public safety concerns.
Additionally, the resignation of previous directors, including Jelena Tanasković and Nebojša Šurlan, marked a period of instability within the Railway Infrastructure organization. Maksimović, who took over after multiple director changes, now faces the consequences of these failures. His memo emphasized the urgent need to address safety issues, but by then, the responsibility to hold contractors accountable had passed.
As it stands, unless swift action is taken to contact the Chinese and Russian companies responsible for the construction, repairs will become the sole responsibility of the Railway Infrastructure after the warranty expires. With the expiration of the warranties approaching, it’s uncertain whether any corrective measures will be implemented, further jeopardizing passenger safety.
