New railway tunnel getting built at Budapest airport

The tender for building the Budapest-Belgrade railway will be announced by the end of the year. The construction might be ready by 2022, as minister of national development László Mosóczi claimed at the InnoRail conference. He also stated that a 22-kilometer-long railway to the airport is planned, 7 kilometers of which will go underground as a railway tunnel.

According to Magyar Idők, the news about the Budapest-Belgrade railway track were encouraging at the international railway conference. Vice minister for Ministry of National Development stated that the railway line is in an awful shape right now.

Its renewal was being planned for 25 years, but the Balkan Wars caused its delay.

The line plays a vital role in freight transport. Both Serbia and Hungary intend to renovate the railway track from a Chinese loan.

Serbia divided the investment into three stages, one of which will be executed from Russian funds. Hungary plans to renovate the Budapest-Kelebia track in one take. As Mosóczi stated, the competition will be announced at the end of 2017. The planning will begin then as well. The construction itself is expected to initiate in 2020.

According to the schedules, the process will be finished in both Hungary and Serbia by 2022.

Mosóczi also highlighted that Liszt Ferenc International Airport will also be connected to the railway network, as the Hungarian government decided last November. They are planning to add a new junction to the Budapest-Cegléd railway line between Pestszentlőrinc and Monor. 7 kilometers of the 22-kilometer-long bypass will be underground.

The track will probably go between two runways, entering the territory of the airport below the surface. There are two special security requirements which the railway tunnel and the applied technology must fulfill. First, the airport must not be attacked from that direction. Secondly, the applied technology must not disturb the automatic landing system of the airport. The planning is currently financed by IKOP (Integrated Transport Operative Program). Mosóczi stated that it will require about two years to prepare the investment on the territory of the airport.

Ce: bm

Source: Magyar Idők