RCG and Serbia’s Transfera Launch Regular Intermodal Rail Service Between Belgrade and Budapest

Serbian logistics company Transfera, together with Austria’s Rail Cargo Group (RCG), part of the ÖBB Group, has launched a new regular intermodal rail service between Belgrade and Budapest.

The route connects the BILK terminal in the Hungarian capital with the intermodal terminal in Batajnica, Belgrade. The service began operating in May 2026 and provides two regular departures per week.

The new service is expected to ensure faster and more predictable freight transportation between Serbia and Hungary, while also creating additional opportunities for integrating the Serbian market into European logistics chains.

The launch of the new route is part of a broader shift towards intermodal logistics, which combines rail and road transport through the use of containers and specialised terminals.

This model makes it possible to reduce pressure on road infrastructure, lower carbon dioxide emissions and improve the resilience of transport chains amid shortages of professional drivers, increasingly complex regulatory requirements and instability in the international freight market.

Transfera notes that the new service is intended to become a competitive alternative to road transport, providing customers with stable freight flows, guaranteed capacity and more predictable delivery times.

The launch of the intermodal route became possible following the resumption of regular freight traffic along the modernised railway line between the capitals of Hungary and Serbia.

The upgraded connection is approximately 350 kilometres long. Infrastructure modernisation has increased the route’s capacity, improved the reliability of rail services and strengthened Serbia’s access to key transport corridors in Central and Southeastern Europe.

The new service complements other routes already developed by RCG and Transfera in the region. In particular, the companies operate a connection linking Serbia with Germany via Hungary, as well as a rail route between Belgrade and the Croatian Adriatic port of Rijeka.

Comment by the Institute for Danube Research

Experts of the Institute for Danube Research note that the launch of the new intermodal connection reflects a broader trend towards stronger transport connectivity in Central and Southeastern Europe.

Regional logistics systems are increasingly developing as networks of interconnected railway routes, road corridors, intermodal terminals and seaports. Within this model, rail freight is becoming an important instrument for improving the resilience of supply chains and reducing dependence on individual modes of transport.

According to Vitaliy Barvinenko, Director of the Institute for Danube Research, the new service is important not only for Serbia and Hungary, but also for the broader architecture of regional transport corridors:

“The launch of a regular intermodal route between Belgrade and Budapest is an example of how infrastructure modernisation can be transformed into practical logistics solutions for businesses. Importantly, this is not an isolated railway line, but part of an emerging network of routes connecting domestic markets, industrial centres and seaports across Central and Southeastern Europe.

This experience is also relevant for Ukraine. The further development of intermodal transportation, border infrastructure and connections with the ports of the Danube Region should be regarded as one of the practical directions of Ukraine’s integration into the European transport system.”

The development of the Belgrade–Budapest route confirms the growing role of intermodal logistics in the region and creates favourable conditions for the further expansion of rail freight services between the Western Balkans, Central Europe and Adriatic seaports.