On 25 August, Keleti station will be closed for four weeks

The renovation of the Keleti railway station network continues, which is why the central railway station will be closed for four weeks between 25 August and 20 September, announced Zsolt Hegyi, CEO of MÁV Zrt., at a press conference held on Wednesday in Budapest to discuss the renovation work and the changes it will bring. As we have already reported, the date and time were announced earlier known , the closure is necessary due to the most significant technical renovation of the past decade.

Zsolt Hegyi highlighted:

During the closure, infrastructure elements that have slowed down or restricted traffic will be renovated, repaired or replaced. The Eastern programme will see 4.5 billion forints worth of rail infrastructure works over the next four weeks.

The Keleti station plays an important role in passenger rail transport, and last year several interventions were already carried out to improve safety, but the bulk of the work is now to come, the CEO recalled.

Tibor Szilágyi, Director General of Development and Investment of MÁV Pályaműködtetési Zrt. gave details of the renovation work.

Among other things, he pointed out that the complex renewal programme involves 52 siding, 15 kilometres of regulation, 4 kilometres of track and 15 kilometres of overhead line replacement. The aim is to remove slow signals from the railway network around the station and improve traffic safety. Resources will be concentrated on work at the Eastern Railway Station, with 9-11 construction crews working in the area and technology subcontractors.

According to MÁV calculations, this is the period when passengers have the least problems with closures

Zsolt Hegyi pointed out that the time of the closing of the tracks was timed between 25 August and 20 September because the period between the end of summer and the beginning of autumn is the period with the least number of passenger accidents.

The Keleti station is very busy in the summer, with tourist traffic decreasing at the end of the summer and professional traffic not yet fully operational in early autumn, he explained. He added,

for this period, a traffic regime will be established that can best mitigate the inconvenience, additional travel time and inconvenience.

The CEO of MÁV said that he hopes that the Eastern Programme will be a turning point and the beginning of a new chapter in Hungarian rail transport. The era of forced track closures may be replaced by a period of planned track closures that will allow track upgrades.

How replacements are organised

László Kormányos, CEO of MÁV Személyszállítási Zrt., explained that

For the period of closure, the terminus for the affected lines in Western Hungary will be Kelenföld instead of Keleti station, and for Eastern Hungary Kőbánya-Felső and Kőbánya-Kispest stations, from where you can continue your journey by transfer.