Nyugati Railway Station revamp project gets EU support

The project to renew Budapest’s Nyugati Railway Station had been awarded European Union funding, a state secretary at the Ministry of Technology and Industry (TIM) said after a meeting of EU transport officials in Lyon on Wednesday.

Hungary’s National Transport Centre (NKK) had been awarded EUR 2.8 billion for the upgrade of the Nyugati Railway Station, Dávid Vitézy wrote on Facebook. Meanwhile, he said a project to build new train stations in southern Budapest had been rated “excellent” by the European Commission.

However, since the environmental permit of the project was revoked earlier this year, a decision on its financing had been delayed until the time a new permit would be obtained, Vitézy said.

The state secretary called the project “the most important rail link between the eastern and western part of the country”.

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According to the official EU evaluation of the tender submitted for the development of the Southern Circular Railway:

• The proposed project should be prioritised in terms of both importance and urgency.
• The project will also benefit passengers and freight operators. There will be fewer accidents, less environmental damage and lower operating costs in the future.

The main problem is that the Municipal Court of Budapest annulled the necessary environmental permits on 17 February 2022.

Budapest has already won EU funding for an environmental impact assessment of the Danube Rail Tunnel. In addition, the National Transport Centre won this grant in a competitive tender between the 27 EU Member States. The grant amounts to EUR 2.8 million.

The project is scheduled for completion in 2026-27.

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Source: MTI, Facebook