Government Announces Unprecedented Railway Development

The Hungarian government is preparing the biggest railway construction project in the Great Hungarian Plain (Alföld) in the last hundred years, with plans to spend some HUF 600 billion (EUR 1.5 billion) on the development and transformation of the Szeged-Kecskemét-Cegléd-Budapest railway region, the Minister of Construction and Transport announced in Kecskemét on Thursday.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Klaudia Szemereyné Pataki, Mayor of Kecskemét, János Lázár said that one of the reasons for the railway development is the need for labor mobility, to make it easier for people to get to their workplaces.

Another reason is the need for freight mobility, to make it easier for products to reach Western European markets.

The minister announced that the Szeged-Kiskunfélegyháza and Kiskunfélegyháza-Cegléd railway lines will be rebuilt to serve the new car manufacturing center (BYD) in Szeged and the car manufacturing plant (BMW) in Debrecen.

Photo: MTI/Bús Csaba

First, the Kiskunfélegyháza-Szeged railway line will be upgraded, then this will be followed by a project to convert the railway line from Kiskunfélegyháza to Cegléd into a double-track line. He stressed that both projects will affect Kecskemét, as will the reconstruction of the railway line between Lajosmizse and Budapest, that will also be completed in two phases.

The Hungarian state is also taking out loans for the construction, electrification and modernization of the lines, in addition to EU funds,

he added.

The minister said that the reconstruction of the Kecskemét railway station has also been delayed for a long time. He recalled that Kecskemét has ready-made plans for the construction of an intermodal transport hub, thus in parallel with the regional railway development, the Hungarian State Railways will start the development of the Kecskemét railway station next year.

Klaudia Szemereyné Pataki, Mayor of Kecskemét, said that the city has become one of Hungary’s dynamically developing economic and industrial centers over the past 15 years. She noted that 10 years ago, 160,000 people commuted to the city every day, but today it is 300,000, and the Kecskemét agglomeration has reached 400-500,000 inhabitants.

Related articleMinister Announces Major Improvements on Key Railway Lines

Some 500 kilometers of track will be upgraded, with the main aim of sticking to timetables.Continue reading

Via MTI, Featured image: Wikipedia

The post Government Announces Unprecedented Railway Development appeared first on Hungary Today.