Railway development - Three underpasses to be built in the Budapest agglomeration ring

Our portal has reported on several occasions on developments related to the modernisation of the Budapest-Belgrade (BuBe) railway line. Among other things, we reported on the construction of a bridge over the Danube-Tisza Canal between Dunaharaszti and Taksony, which is part of the Colas Út Zrt. project. rel="noopener">Colas Út Zrt. project, which spans the Danube-Tisza Canal and is part of the largest span crossing on the line.

The link between Europe and the Balkans

The BuBe is planned to connect to the Salzburg - Belgrade - Thessaloniki rail corridor, which will serve the southern part of the Carpathian Basin and the northern part of the Balkan Peninsula, and will provide a direct link to Western and Northern Europe via Budapest.

Developing conditions for barrier-free and safe passenger transport

In parallel with the development of the 150 line, a number of projects will be implemented to improve passenger safety. Colas is building 3 pedestrian underpasses at the stations of Taksony, Kisunlacház and Délegyháza, on behalf of CTEC Kft. (China Tiejiuju Engineering & Construction Kft.). The last of these, the one in Délegyháza, will be the largest.
The aim of the project is to provide barrier-free transport for passengers from the station to the platforms. To this end, lifts, stairs and ramps for bicycles will be built.

Finishing works are being carried out at three project sites

The Colas experts arrived on site in April 2023, Makrai Roland told us. The company's project manager said that the reinforced concrete structures were completed in Taksony in December last year, in Délegyháza in June and in Kiskunlacháza in February. The final stages of construction are currently under way at all three stations.

A nearly 21-metre-long pedestrian underpass and two lift shafts, as well as two stairs, will soon be completed at the Taksony railway station. In Kiskunlacháza, the connection between the levels has also been solved by the construction of two lift shafts and two stairs. The new footbridge will be 20.16 metres long.

50-metre underpass and three lifts to be built in Délegyháza

Roland Markai added that the largest volume of work is underway at the Délegyháza station, where three lift shafts, three stairs and a fifty-metre-long pedestrian walkway consisting of three dilatation units are being built. In addition, a cleaning room has been completed at all three stations. The construction of the underpass in Délegyháza was delayed by six weeks because the client has modified the plans in the meantime, resulting in a longer structure than originally planned.

One hundred tonnes of help

At Taksony and Délegyháza stations, a 100-tonne crawler crane was used for construction. This enabled the professional removal of 12-metre long reed slabs while maintaining the railway track and the lift shafts, which were up to three metres above ground level.

A total of 1,200 cubic metres of structural concrete and 370 cubic metres of Ckt ready-mix concrete, in addition to 210 tonnes of reinforcing steel, were used to construct the monolithic reinforced concrete structures at the three sites.

Construction at a depth of six metres

The works at all three sites had to be carried out in groundwater to a depth of four metres for the underpasses and six metres for the lift shafts. The work areas were delimited by reed panels to prevent water ingress. Another challenge in Kiskunlacháza was that the works had to be carried out in two phases. The project manager pointed out that the linking of the work area and the lowering of the groundwater level with the use of reed plates was a professional challenge for the experts when changing the phases.
Roland Makrai added that during the works, the construction traffic on a railway track at all three stations was continuously ensured by anchoring the reed plates.

In addition to the passage of railway trains near the work site, they must also maintain a right of way for the movement of contractors.