Hungary aims to strengthen its role as an economic meeting point, so that Eastern and Western capital and high tech can be linked here.Continue reading
The government has announced recently 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 guaranteeing passengers’ rights, building railways, purchasing rolling stock, improving passenger comfort and reorganizing MÁV Zrt. (Hungarian State Railway) into a new company.
János Lázár, Minister of Construction and Transport, has been authorized to apply to the European Investment Bank on behalf of the government for a EUR 1 billion loan. The state would complement this amount with EUR 1 billion of its own resources and use it to launch a complex rail track renewal and development program worth more than EUR 2 billion in 2025.
The minister noted that trains run at speed limits on fifty percent of the 6,500 kilometers of railway track in Hungary, which is one of the reasons why it is impossible to keep to the timetable.
In the last 14 years, 1,200 kilometers of track have been renewed, and the aim is now to lay 500 kilometers of new track in four years.
As Magyar Nemzet writes, the new action plan can also serve the so-called European Green Deal. The Deal calls for a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from transport to help the EU become a climate-neutral economy by 2050.
Rail is one of the least carbon-intensive transport options, and the expansion of electrified rail lines can make a major contribution to reducing emissions.
Analysis by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) shows that the highest share of standard gauge electrified railways is found in the Central Hungary region (87%) and the Western Transdanubia region (71%), with the lowest shares in the Southern Great Plain region (26%) and the Northern Great Plain region (28%).
The KSH also provides an international perspective. It shows that the share of electrified railway lines in Hungary in 2022 was 40.7%. Among European countries, Switzerland (99.8%) and Luxembourg (96.7%) had the highest ratios. Among the V4 countries, Poland had the highest electrified rail line share (63%). Among Hungary’s neighbors, Austria had the highest electrified rail line share (72%), while the neighboring country with the lowest share was Romania (38%).
Via kormany.hu, Magyar Nemzet; Featured image: Facebook/MÁV