Orbán inaugurates light railway line in his birthplace

Budapest, April 30 (MTI) – New rails need to be laid down and the country must be built further, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at the inauguration of a light railway line in Vál Valley near Budapest on Saturday.

Addressing the event, the prime minister called it a well-known phenomenon that “instead of welcoming new projects and growth, many people try to criticise and find fault with them. Such an attitude is cynicism but one cannot build anything out of cynicism.”

Orbán noted that the railway service between Bicske and Székesfehervár had originally been launched in the 1800s but terminated in the 1970s. The new line has been built along a short section of the original route, between the Pancho Arena, carrying the Spanish nickname of soccer legend Ferenc Puskás, in Felcsút and the arboretum of Alcsut, the prime minister said, adding that the line should be extended to Bicske.

The schedule for a second phase of the construction has been prepared and “we’ll see if we have the money for it”, he said. A significant part of financing for the completed line came from the foundation of the local football academy, he added.

The Vál Valley light railway was built with the help of 600 million forints (EUR 1.9m) worth of non-refundable European Union support.

Some fifteen light railways operate in forested areas around Hungary and 800,000 tickets were sold for them in 2015, which shows that there is demand for tourism based on such railways, Orbán said. Seven light railway lines were opened in recent years and there are proposals for building new ones, he added.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters