Hungary’s richest man builds railways for a price that left experts bewildered

The wealthiest Hungarian man will execute a shockingly expensive project which dwarfs the budget of many other project internationally.

The expansion of railway tracks between Kelenföld and Ferencváros railway station will cost 338 billion forints (EUR 947,089,520). The company that builds it is V-Híd Építő Zrt., which can be connected to the richest Hungarian man, Lőrinc Mészáros. The actual price of such a project is much lower – experts told G7.

The realistic price could be between 30-50 billion forints (EUR 84,061,200 – 140,102,000).

The subcontractors, namely V-Híd Vagyonkezelő Kft.,  KÖZGÉP Zrt.,  Híd-Tám Kft., A-Híd Zrt., and MÁV FKG Kft.  are also related to the infamous businessman.

The project with the dreadful price tag consists of railway development, expansion of safety equipment, two new stations, and working on three railway bridges: demolishing and rebuilding a bridge, expanding another’s width, and building a new bridge. Noise barriers and reinforced concrete retaining walls will also be added.

The price of the project is a shocking 62 billion forints (EUR 173,726,480) for one kilometre. Experts are bewildered, especially knowing that bigger developments in other countries cost significantly less.

The main railway station in Vienna (Wien Hauptbahnhof) cost 970 million euros. This project consisted of construction works on 50 hectares, putting down 100 kilometres of new rails, 8 kilometres of noise protection walls, 12 railways, four platforms for transporting cars, a shopping centre with 100 stores, an underground garage for 630 cars, and a bus station with 11 stops.