Shockingly sleazy Budapest Nyugati Railway Station to be renewed! – video

Nyugati Railway Station (Budapest), Photo: Wikimedia Commons by Natalia Semenova

Today, if it rains, one should not close their umbrella when arriving at the Western Railway station in Budapest because its roof is so leaky that we are likely to become wet even under it. The situation is getting worse for decades even though this is one of the most crowdy railway stations of Budapest.

An association posted this video in 2014, and the situation has only got worse since then:

Gyalázatos, szégyen, felháborító – ilyen szavakkal illették az utasok a Nyugati pályaudvar műemlék Eiffel csarnokának állapotát. Bent ugyanis néha jobban esik az eső, mint kint. Az állami tulajdonú, MÁV kezelésű épület évtizedek óta rohad, a beázások nem most kezdődtek. Utoljára a MÁV előző vezérigazgatója, Szarvas Ferenc ígérte meg három évvel ezelőtt, hogy megcsináltatja a tetőt, de ahogy látjuk abból sem lett semmi, és sajnos azóta sem foglalkozik senki a budapesti pályaudvarok sorsával. Végül is minek, csak napi hetvenezer ember használja. A víz lassan mindenhol utat tör, patakokban folyik le az oszlopokon, mellettük a falakon. A falak mállanak, csoda hogy még egyben van az épület. Megvárjuk míg szétrohad és összedől?(a felvétel 2014. augusztus 21-én délelőtt fél kilenckor készült, eddigre a nagy eső már rég elment, kint csak szemerkélt)
Posted by VEKE on Thursday, August 21, 2014

According to g7.hu, the owner of the building promised to renew it many times, but nothing happened for years. Now, they would like to restore the roof and the glass elements of the facade. Two companies sent their applications for the work, and the Magyar Építő Ltd. won. They are going to do it for 9 billion HUF (EUR 25.65M), 500 million HUF less than government-close entrepreneur Lőrinc Mészáros’s Fejér B.Á.L. would have done.

The Hungarian Railways published the relevant public procurement last year in which they cleared that they would like to renew the roof of the McDonald’s, the cash desk hall and the railway station. Furthermore, six smaller tower roofs will be restored as well, and they will rebuild the rainwater system and the glass elements of the walls on both sides of the station. Based on the project announcement, 1,800 square metres of glass will be restored, but it is important that the building is a monument so the executor must be extremely careful.

According to Róbert Homolya, President and CEO of MÁV, they received money from the EU for the project.

Interestingly, Magyar Építő Ltd has not won a public procurement for long. For the last time, they got some auxiliary construction works related to the 2020 European Championships together with Mészáros’s Záév Ltd. The company was owned by László Szíjj who was taken a photo together with MÁV-leader Róbert Homolya on a luxury yacht in 2018. However, Szíjj sold the Magyar Építők Ltd already in 2017, and the purchaser was Attila Paár who does business together with István Tiborcz, son-in-law of the Hungarian PM, Viktor Orbán. Since then, they have won 40 billion HUF (EUR 114 million) on public procurements.

Photo Gallery

: Nyugati Railway station, Budapest. Hungary. Photo: MTI

: Nyugati Railway station, Budapest. Hungary. Photo: MTI

: Nyugati Railway station, Budapest. Hungary. Photo: MTI

Source: g7.hu

If you would like to support the work of the Daily News Hungary staff and independent journalism,
please make a donation here

Hot news

5 Comments

Gary.J.A.Booth-Hansen. hansen says:

06/05/2020 at 18:52

Exciting.
What an Opportunity to Showcase this Magnificent Railway Station.
There is a “aura” a special distinctive atmosphere when you arrive at a Railway Station built in an era of Rail Transport domination.
Blessed we Truly are in Budapest to have (2) Magnificent Railway Stations built in the Rail travel dominated era – Nyugati and Keleti that are magnificent pieces of architectural design.
Visitors from Europe and the World, come to our beloved Budapest, Hungary to visit our (2) two glorious period Rail Stations.
They provide Tourism huf – they alone.
It delight trills and joys me, that Nygati is getting a make-over similar to Keleti obtained in 2019.
Prior to this novel coronavirus pandemic – Rail usage in Hungary and throughout Europe was on the Increase.
Moving forward, the monies being used for this project, there will be a return from there investment ///
Stay Well -ALL.
Paulus says:

07/05/2020 at 12:31

I still prefer London St Pancras. That shows how a historic railway station should be renovated. Likewise London Kings Cross, which has it’s Georgian facade magnificently restored and a wonderful public square created in front. I’m sorry, but just replacing the glass is not enough to make this a ‘destination’ station, it requires a full renovation to bring it up to 21st century standards.
Paulus says:

08/05/2020 at 17:52

Nyugati and Keleti that are magnificent pieces of architectural design.
No Gary, they are average. Not that wonderful. Try reading architecture books.
Gary.J.A.Booth-Hansen. hansen says:

09/05/2020 at 13:20

Paulus,
Totally agree your opinion of St Pancras – remember in my student days, in the 1970’s, prior to it’s renovation, in the early years of 2000, and what they achieved, in there re-development of it into the 21st century.
Architecturally appealing, possible should have been my opinion of Nyugati and Keleti, which another of my favourite is Milano Centrale.
Stay Well – ALL.
TM says:

06/08/2023 at 14:52

It’s the details- the fact the retained the old trash baskets- vs the huge steel boxes that don’t fit in anywhere. My favorites are the bright green plastic ones with the little graphic to show you how to use it. One of the great train stations was torn down n NY in the sixties. Budapest stations don’t compare, but this isn’t NY or london.

The large LED at Keleti dominates the whole hall – same for the new hole in the main entrance. This is example of how not to renovate a great building.