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The MÁV Group has launched a nationwide tender for the renewal of railway stations. The company is already negotiating with applicants, and local authorities will be involved in finalizing the concepts, the CEO announced.
“We have really captured the imagination of property developers and local entrepreneurs! This is a brief summary of the first positive experiences of the nationwide station renovation program launched by the Ministry of Transport and Construction and the MÁV Group,” Zsolt Hegyi wrote on Facebook.
The CEO announced that
over 49 development ideas had been submitted to the MÁV Group by the deadline for applications for 62 sites in the three categories nationwide.
He added that the number is not final because the local level of the program has not been closed: applications for station buildings in smaller settlements can still be submitted on an ongoing basis, i.e. even after the January 31 deadline. He also said that in eight cases, applications from municipalities could be received.
The CEO noted that besides Budapest’s main railway stations, the stations of county towns and smaller municipalities are just as well represented among the properties to be developed.
The development ideas are also colorful and wide-ranging, from tourism-oriented use to the creation of a local service center offering complex services, to the development of a compact city center function,”
he detailed.
He also said that they would negotiate with applicants and involve municipalities in the development in finalizing the concepts.
In August 2024, the government announced a five-point transport action plan, aiming to change, reform, and transform the Hungarian transport system to improve the quality of services. The action plan includes:
Later that year, Minister of Transport and Construction János Lázár announced his intention to renovate and rebuild the largest railway stations in Hungary with private capital. The tender invites applications from investors and property developers, who in return for a limited period of commercial use of part of the property, are willing to undertake the regeneration of the station building and its surroundings. In return, they would jointly operate the railway station properties for 99 years. The minister stressed that the real estate will not be given for free, and that the state will also share in the profits of the operation of the jointly founded company.
In early January 2025, the minister announced further commitments to improve public transport. Among the announced changes are the refunding of half the bus and train fare after a 20-minute delay, the renovation of all public toilets at the stations, and reducing the shortage of InterCity wagons.
Featured image: MTI/Bruzák Noémi