RCG Starts Weekly Budapest–Belgrade Intermodal Service

HUNGARY–SERBIA: ÖBB Rail Cargo Group has launched a weekly Budapest–Belgrade intermodal service, creating a scheduled rail link for containers and dangerous goods between Central Europe and the Balkans.

RCG’s official service announcement sets the initial frequency at one round trip per week. A second weekly rotation is already being planned, although the company has not announced when it could begin.

The trains are operated entirely with RCG traction. According to the dedicated Budapest–Belgrade route page, the service uses the Kelebia–Subotica crossing and accepts 20-, 30-, 40- and 45-foot containers as well as dangerous goods.

Budapest hub extends the new freight connection

At Budapest, customers can transfer cargo to RCG services serving Sopron, Vienna, Wels and Duisburg. These onward connections link Serbia with industrial and logistics centres in Hungary, Austria and Germany through the wider TransFER network.

The launch follows the return of freight traffic to the direct Budapest–Kelebia–Belgrade corridor. In a June network update, RCG said the Kelebia–Subotica border crossing had reopened after several years of modernisation work, removing the construction-period diversion via Röszke–Horgoš.

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Fixed timetable targets road freight constraints

RCG is positioning the rail service as an alternative to road haulage on the Hungary–Serbia corridor. Its fixed schedule is intended to reduce customers’ exposure to congestion, weekend driving restrictions, seasonal traffic disruption and the continuing shortage of truck drivers.

The announcement does not specify a transit time, train capacity or expected cargo volume. It also leaves the timing of the planned second weekly round trip open, so the confirmed offer remains one weekly rotation for now.