According to Serbian Economist, the French company Alstom has been awarded a €915 million contract to supply a comprehensive turnkey solution for Belgrade’s first metro line—Serbia’s first fully automated metro system. The company announced this on March 27, and the news portal Parametar (https://www.parametar.rs/) described the deal as one of the largest infrastructure projects in the region in recent years.
The first phase of Line 1 will connect Makishko Pole and Karaburma. The 15-kilometer section will include 15 stations, with approximately 11 kilometers running through tunnels in the city center.
The contract calls for the delivery of 32 driverless three-car Metropolis trains, as well as signaling and telecommunications systems, power supply, track infrastructure, platform doors, depot equipment, a centralized control center, and cybersecurity systems. The trains will operate using Urbalis CBTC technology, which will enable fully automated service with intervals of up to 90 seconds.
Alstom has already entered the design phase for Line 1. The company emphasizes that the project is being implemented with the support of French government funding, and the agreement itself will be reflected in the financial statements after the finalization of the financial agreement.
The Belgrade metro project is estimated at €4–7 billion in total, and the financing needs for the first line alone could reach €2.5 billion. Construction work on the project is being carried out separately, notably with the participation of Chinese contractors, making the construction model Franco-Chinese in terms of supply and execution.
