Keleti Station’s underground level to be renovated – PICTURES

The renovation of Keleti Station that is now combined with Nyugati Station, will allow stair-free access of the trains from the metro station. Works can start in 2021.

As Magyar Építők reported, the head of the Budapest Development Centre (Budapest Fejlesztési Központ, BFK), Dávid Vitézy shared on Facebook that with the Hungarian State Railways, MÁV’s investment, the renovation of the underground level of Keleti Train Station will start next year.

The project is co-financed by the European Union’s Cohesion Fund and prepared by MÁV and the Budapest Development Centre. The renovation of the full underground level of Keleti can start in 2021 after the public procurement is successfully done.

The Hungarian Government Gazette highlights that the renovation of the two train stations shall be prepared and then implemented following the long-term train developments, keeping in mind such aspects as passenger traffic and monuments. Passenger traffic functions and spaces with the most damaged aesthetical conditions should be prioritised in terms of order.

On the underground level that reaches from the metro station to the trains, there will be a new customer centre and ticket machines at the ticket office’s venue. The trains from the underground level will be accessible by escalators and elevators. Plus, there will be new public toilets, and the overall aesthetics will be improved to match the underground level of Metro 4 that was renovated this year.

According to Napi, the Hungarian government combined the renovation programmes of the Keleti and Nyugati train stations.

So far, the renovations of the two train stations have been two separate projects within the framework of the European Union’s Integrated Transport Operational Programme (ITOP), but then the Hungarian government decided to stop the individual programme of the Nyugati Station and incorporate it in the renovation programme of Keleti Station. Nyugati Station’s IKOP programme money – 1 billion 67 million HUF (2,922,706 EUR) – therefore, was transferred to the project of Keleti Station that now has 2 billion 56 million HUF (5,631,374 EUR) in total.

The project is now called “Passenger traffic development of Budapest Keleti and Budapest Nyugati train stations”.

Budapest, on the other hand, has more transport-related developments in the making. As we have earlier reported, the development of the three suburban railway (HÉV) lines is in the planning phase, to provide faster and better service to the residents. 

Read alsoWhat are the most anticipated developments in Budapest?

Source: Magyar Építők, Napi