Nearly 50,000 people travel on it every day – the refurbishment of the Cegléd main line continues

On an average weekday, nearly 50,000 passengers use the 100a line – that is, the Budapest–Cegléd–Szolnok railway line’s suburban section. For this very reason, any speed restrictions on this line have a significant impact. Zsolt Hegyi, CEO of the MÁVgroup’s CEO Facebook outlined the current and planned maintenance works taking place on the Cegléd main line .

Given that, in addition to suburban trains, this line is used by numerous long-distance services heading towards the eastern part of the country – including a significant proportion of the services to Debrecen, Nyíregyháza and Szeged – and indeed handles a substantial volume of freight traffic, a more reliable, punctual and stable Cegléd main line would be of immense importance.

These interventions have taken place so far

The condition of certain sections of the line has deteriorated over recent decades, and the resulting speed restrictions are causing delays of several minutes and undermining the punctuality of trains. For this reason, intensive work will be carried out in several phases this summer and autumn on the sections of the Cegléd main line most in need of repair, the chief executive writes.

In his post, he also touched upon the work carried out over the past few months; according to this,

• In Abony, ballast replacement, track replacement and track alignment work were carried out,
• In Kőbánya-Kispest, the ballast was screened, the track was rebuilt and the points were replaced,
• On the Kőbánya-Kispest–Pestszentlőrinc section, further track and ballast replacement work was completed.

They are currently continuing their work in the Cegléd, Pilis and Albertirsa areas.

Further track closure periods until early November

Between Pilis and Albertirsa, the track bed is being screened over a distance of nearly 9 kilometres; in Albertirsa, the railway level crossing on Dánosi út is being rebuilt, and turnouts are also being replaced. Certain phases of the works also affect the section between Albertirsa and Ceglédbercel-Cserő.

„The aim is not simply to carry out the necessary maintenance. We want to remove as many speed restrictions as possible that cause delays, reduce the risk of track defects and breakdowns, and make traffic on this particularly busy main line more predictable”

- the manager of MÁV continues.

A railway line with such a high volume of traffic cannot be closed in its entirety for any length of time to allow the necessary work to be carried out; therefore, the refurbishment is being carried out in stages, one section at a time. Work is always carried out on those sections where it is most necessary.

Work will continue into the autumn, and further track closures are to be expected until early November – concludes Zsolt Hegyi in his post.