The entire steel structure of a nearly 80-year-old railway bridge spanning Bartók Béla Road in Budapest has been lifted in a single piece and transported away as part of the Southern Circular Railway project, the transport and investment minister announced in a late-night Facebook post on Sunday.
A complex and spectacular operation
Dávid Vitézy said one of the most visually striking and technically demanding phases of the project took place in the capital over the weekend. The several-hundred-tonne structure was moved using one of the country’s largest cranes, with a 700-tonne lifting capacity, alongside specialised self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs), following months of preparation and precision engineering.
The bridge was carried along the railway alignment towards Kelenföld, where dismantling will now begin, he added. The operation required a full closure of road and tram traffic.
More capacity, new stations
Vitézy said the scheme aims to expand the section between Ferencváros and Kelenföld from two tracks to three or four, removing one of the most significant bottlenecks in Budapest’s rail network, the Hungarian news agency wrote.
“As a result, more suburban and long-distance trains will be able to run, and new stations will be built at Nádorkert, Közvágóhíd and Népliget — although the construction tender for the latter was halted by János Lázár, we will relaunch it — allowing far more people to choose rail over driving,” he wrote.
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He noted that trains have already been using one of the new double-track bridges for several months, with a similar structure set to replace the old bridge shortly.
“That is why I have said before, and continue to maintain as minister, that the Southern Circular Railway is not only about freight traffic. Without this investment, meaningful improvements to suburban and long-distance rail services in the capital and its wider metropolitan area would not be possible,” Vitézy said.
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