Bound track

The European Commission has given Southern Circular Railway another chance

Published

2023. 06. 23. 16:51
According to the published information, Hungary has won a grant for the complete renovation of the main railway line between Debrecen and Nyíregyháza, and the country can apply again for the realisation of the Southern Circular Railway.

The European Commission has published the results of the 2022 calls for proposals for CEF funds allocated directly by it for the development of trans-European transport networks, according to Dávid Vitézy Facebook post.

According to the post:

Although the Southern Circular Railway did not win due to the revocation of its environmental permit, but the EU took the rather unusual step of reserving a significant portion of the funds allocated to Hungary for next year, thus opening up the possibility for the Hungarian government to reapply.

As we we wrote earlier, the investment received an excellent rating from the EU. 

Dávid Vitézy pointed out that "an important news is that the court has recently published its written judgment, which clearly shows that the court did not uphold the protesters' main arguments against the railway. For example, on the oft-mentioned V0 bypass, the court's judgment says ":

"The environmental impact assessment of the V0 project, which is the most contested by the applicants, states that it has the benefit of "reducing noise and vibration pollution from freight traffic in residential areas. However, from a climate perspective, there is also an expected increase in pollution due to the expected increase in road length. The V0 will also cause noise and vibration pollution on its own route and impact on wildlife - the study route Natura 2000 covers approximately 88.4 km." The Court agrees with the applicants II-IV that where Natura 2000 areas are concerned, the importance of the alternatives is even greater. However, while the V0 project significantly affects Natura 2000 land, the present facility does not directly affect land with this classification, a consideration that supports the justification for the proposed investment as opposed to the V0 project."

At the end of the post, the transport expert summarised:

"the construction of the Southern Circular Railway and its new stations must not be abandoned, the environmental permit can and must be improved, as the Court of Justice has ruled, and it is worth continuing to insist on the construction of one of the country's most important capacity-enhancing railway developments, which will allow a substantial expansion of services."

Graphics by Dávid Vitézy / Facebook

The main line between Debrecen and Nyíregyháza may be renewed

Also on 23 June 2023, a next post, Dávid Vitézy reported that Hungary had been awarded €256 million for the complete renovation of the main line between Debrecen and Nyíregyháza (excluding the renovation of the two terminal stations).

This resource will allow freight trains and circular ICs running here to prevent further deterioration of track conditions and perhaps in the future to reach 160 km/h (once GSM-R and ETCS L2 train control is completed).

"This is an ultimately useful, but still mainly a domestic main line project, without major station upgrades or service extensions, and it is no coincidence that the Southern Circular Railway would have been ahead of it on the priority list originally" - the post reads.

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