Budapest–Belgrade–Skopje–Athens railway

The Budapest–Belgrade–Skopje–Athens railway, a China-CEE hallmark project (2014) of Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative, is a planned railroad international connection in Central and Southeast Europe – between Budapest (Hungary), Belgrade (Serbia), Skopje (North Macedonia), Athens and its China-run port of Piraeus (Greece). Planned speed is up to 200 km/h (120 mph) depending on the sections: 160 km/h (99 mph) on the Hungarian section between Budapest and Serbia, 200 km/h (120 mph) between the Hungarian border and Belgrade and on most of the Belgrade-Niš section, while the current line between Thessaloniki and Athens is 200 km/h (120 mph) with upgrades to 160 km/h (99 mph) ongoing. The Chinese planners do not comment on the other tracks' realizable speeds. Originally, they spoke of up to 300 km/h (190 mph) throughout.

The first section, the Budapest–Belgrade railway – a $2.89 billion, 350 km (220 mi) high-speed rail line – should have been finished in two years, but is lagging behind due to an EU investigation into possible violations of its public tendering requirements.