How the domestic rail network can catch up with the development of the road network

After 15 years of development, the country's motorway network is now Western European in development, creating a distinctly asymmetric situation with the railways. He stressed that the political will to develop the railways is currently there, but the funding mix for the national mobility sector is not ideal due to the lack of EU funding

- says the association in a press release sent to this newspaper.

Nearly half a thousand kilometres of tracks to be resurfaced

As recalled, the Deputy Minister stressed that the ÉKM rail development strategy has been discussed by the Government at first reading and that they are currently seeking to identify own and alternative sources of funding: he referred to the recent application for a one billion euro loan from the European Investment Bank, for which a further one billion euro of domestic funding is already available.

This will be part of a comprehensive €10 billion upgrade, the first phase of which will renew nearly 5,000 kilometres of track, eliminate 119 kilometres of slow signals and introduce a modern traffic management system, but will also alleviate vehicle congestion.

However, the deputy minister said that the minister does not intend to invest new resources in the old company structure, referring to the planned reorganisation of the MÁV-VOLÁN group, where (instead of the current parent-subsidiary relationship) a MÁV rail passenger company would be created alongside and integrated with Volán and HÉV, while retaining the separate brand names, under the name MÁV Passenger Transport Zrt.. These changes are planned to take effect from January.

The V0 project also continues

Dr. László Mosóczi, as chairman of HUNGRAIL and also as CEO of MÁV-START and Volánbusz CEO, was also able to report on the tasks and challenges facing the sector. As he said, the member companies of HUNGRAIL transport 50 million tonnes of goods and more than 200 million passengers annually, so their success has an impact on the country's overall competitiveness. László Mosóczi clearly stated the goal: to provide modern, fast and safe rail transport.

He pointed out that the V0 project will continue under the coordination of the association, and he is confident that the support for individual cars will continue. The President of HUNGRAIL stressed that a package of proposals on rail freight will be presented to the Government in spring 2025, including issues such as the possibility for rail carriers to purchase energy independently and the development of combined transport, which is currently high on the agenda of the Hungarian EU Presidency.