No to Budapest2024 – Yes to the investments?

It is official now that Budapest is out of the competition for becoming the hosting city of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, thus hvg.hu was wondering what will happen to the numerous investments that were promised to be carried out even if the city did not win.

The application of Budapest for the rights of hosting the Olympics in 2024 included the future implementation of several major investments. The plans were decided on in the Kemény Ferenc sports development program lining up 11 developments which are needed because of the Hungarian leisure sports and upcoming underage athletes.

The program includes the construction of the following facilities: Csepel would be enriched by the Budapest Xtrém (Extreme) Holiday Park, an indoor multifunctional track and field hall with a capacity of 12.5 thousand people, a tennis centre with 16 courts, and a track and field stadium with outdoor training fields which would also affect Ferencváros.

Furthermore, Ráckeve would receive a Danube Rowing Centre, whereas the shooting range at Nagytétény would welcome the Takács Károly National Shooting Centre. For Óbuda a new Budapest Velodrom is planned, while to the area of the Üllői educational farm a Natioanal Horse Centre is envisioned.

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The Budapest Olympic Centres (BOK) would be developed too: a new ice rink, swimming pool, and running track in Zugló, and a new B hall to the BOK Sports Hall. The area of Népliget already used for sports activities was also promised to be improved regardless of the results of the hosting city competition.

Besides, the issue of developing the public transportation shall be reconsidered, as only 3% of the 774 billion HUF budget for hosting the Olympics would have been allocated for this project, whereas in fact the whole development would cost far more, writes HVG.

The costs were divided into different sections, such as one including the plans which were part of the Olympics project meaning 28 billion HUF, those which were to be done in advance because of the Games costing 421 billion HUF, and those which should be implemented anyway, regardless of hosting the Games, from 1451 billion HUF.

The projects that would have been only carried out because of the Olympics include a Danube corso between Boráros square and the entrance of Csepel. This also meant the elimination of the suburban railway line platforms and the temporary construction of tram platforms to the Olympic locations. P+R parking lots were also planned, just like some minor corrections to the tracks.

The most significant in advance projects would be the 3+3 lane expansion of motorways M1 and M7 until Győr and Balaton, the construction of the Galvani bridge and the reconstruction of the Gubacsi bridge. These are actually included amongst the plans of the government and the capital city, while the designing of the Ferihegy railway has already begun.

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However, the city development concept’s 9 transportation-related aims (off 17 plans altogether) are all long-term aspirations and planned to be carried out by 2030. Including, as HVG collected based on the study of PwC with the 2015 prices:

Procurements (of 185 billion HUF) for the Hungarian State Railways, the reconstruction of metro line M3 (155 billion HUF) and purchase of carriages (69 billion HUF), the renewal of the Rákos-Hatvan railway (119 billion HUF) and the Gödöllő suburban rail (81 billion HUF), the extension of motorways M35-M4 to the border (115 billion HUF), bus (74 billion HUF) and tram purchase (53 billion HUF).

Notably, several investments have already begun, for the potential hosting of the 2024 Olympic Games was not the only significant and Budapest-based sports event to be held. One of them is certainly the complete reconstruction of the Dagály swimming centre for the 2017 FINA World Championships.

Besides, 4 matches of the 2020 Football European Championships will be played in Budapest, thus, the Puskás Ferenc Stadium should be all ready and nice by that time. Originally, it was promised to have been finished by 2015, but as it did not happen 2019 seems the most reasonable time; whereas the airport’s development might be done in two phases, by 2020 and then by 2024.

Photo: facebook.com/budapest2024

Copy editor: bm

Source: hvg.hu