Hungary focuses on the development of railway infrastructure for urban passenger transport, but also for providing direct railway connections from Hungary to the ports of the Mediterranean Sea and to those in Eastern Europe. Hungary believes that the current railway infrastructure investments will awake the interest of transport operators and of railway players from Central Asia and the Far East.
Works for reconstruction and installation of signalling elements for the section Budapest- Kelenföld – Székesfehérvar were finalized in December 2012. The first phase of the project was thus completed. Phase two includes the implementation of the ETCS Level 2 signalling system and develops in 2011-2014, while phase three and the last one includes the rehabilitation of Székesfehérvar rail station, as well as infrastructure under and over-crossing works, in the period 2012-2015.
Hungary also carries out railway infrastructure works on Budapest- Lokösháza section whose first phase (2011-2014) includes the rehabilitation of Gyoma-Békéscsaba section and the installation of signalling elements and the second phase (2013-2015) includes the rehabilitation of Békéscsaba-Lokösháza section, as well as the installation of the ETCS Level 2 signalling system on the entire section Budapest- Lokösháza, at the frontier with Romania.
Another project carried out in Hungary by Nemzeti Infrastruktúra Fejlesztı (NIF), company which carries out investment programmes for transport infrastructures, includes the rehabilitation of the railway section Szolnok – Debrecen – Záhony. The first phase of this project also includes rehabilitation works and the installation of signalling systems on Szajol – Püspökladány section (2011-2015), and then works on the installation of the ETCS Level 2 signalling system on the same section Szajol – Püspökladány but in 2013-2015.
As regards the project Budapest-Kelenföld–Székesfehérvar, the rehabilitation of this section of 65 km was made for the modernisation of urban transport and for improving the access to railway passenger and freight transport. The cost of the project amounts to EUR 54 Million, of which the sum granted through EU funds is of EUR 1.8 Million. The ETCS Level 2 signalling system will be implemented on this section by Siemens. The traffic speed of trains, after the finalization of the final phase is estimated at 160 km/h for passenger trains. The project seeks to further improve the access of the citizens to Balaton Lake, the main destination for summer holidays.
Pal Völner, Hungary’s Minister for Infrastructure declared that “the modernisation of this section is one of the most important projects developed by Hungary with the support of the funds of the Sectoral Operational Programme – Transport for the period 2007-2013”. The minister added that similar projects are also expected for the west and east areas.
Out of the total freight transport volume in Hungary, railway transport has a share of 20%. Important transport companies choose this transport mode due to its efficient links to the main freight ports in Europe. The modernisation of this route will significantly reduce transport times to the ports of Koper (Slovenia) and Trieste (Italy).
Section Budapest-Kelenföld – Székesfehérvar is part of the pan-European Corridor V which crosses Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary and Ukraine.
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