Further development of the Transdanubian priority railway line

The EU bulletin reported on the development of the railway corridor named RFC 11 Borostyán. According to the announcement published on TED announcement published on TED, the winning bid Kontúr Csoport Kft. may prepare for the development of the Hegyeshalom-Szombathely and Hegyeshalom-Zalaszentiván lines, which cross the western end of Transdanubia in a north-south direction.

The public procurement is therefore divided into two parts:

• including the upgrading of the Hegyeshalom - Csorna - Porpác - Szombathely - Zalaszentiván feasibility study and supporting documents;
• and the modernisation of the Szombathely - Zalaszentiván line section technical plans the preparation and necessary permits obtaining.

The Szombathely-Zalaszentiván section is of particular importance in international and suburban transport, as it provides a connection from Szombathely to Zalaegerszeg, Nagykanizsa, Kaposvár and Pécs, as well as to Slovenia and Croatia. Accordingly, the 48-kilometre railway line was electrified in 2016 with EU funding, with a grant of HUF 13.3 billion from the Cohesion Fund.

Trains may speed up and axle loads may increase

According to the public procurement data for the project in question, the Hegyeshalom - Csorna - Porpác - Szombathely - Zalaszentiván corridor currently consists of 139.36 km of electrified single track and 18.62 km of electrified double track. In addition, there are 17 stations and 15 stops and 102 road crossings crossing the railway line.

At the same time, the announcement also reveals the expected parameters for the development of the Szombathely-Zalaszentiván railway line. These include

• about 47.80 km of single-track railway line will be made suitable for an axle load of at least 22.5 tonnes and a speed of 100/120 km/h;
• 26 road-rail level crossings and 5 stations will be rebuilt;

In addition, they will carry out modifications to the safety equipment and overhead line, lighting and telecommunications; and install ETCS L2 train control equipment.