European Commission decides to support yet another Hungarian large project2012. március 2.
The European Commission gave the green light to accounting Záhony’s large project for railway development at the expense of EU funds. This is the largest project within a complex economy development programme in the region of Záhony, involving the renovation of a 42.6 km long wide gauge railway backbone network. The project will be supported with 21.6 billion forints, 85% from the EU and 15% from domestic funds. Hungary is the fourth member state in terms of the number of large projects that have also been approved by the European Commission.
The first phase of this two-phase project was completed at the end of 2010, involving the reconstruction of open-track sections that are not subject to licencing. Works within the second phase, including the reconstruction of track sections at the stations, the installation of heating for points, the modernisation of interlocking equipment and space lighting, and telecommunication works, are still underway. The project is expected to be closed by the end of 2012.
Why is this project important for Hungary?
Záhony is the node of East-West railway freight transport, the point where the wide gauge Eastern railway line meets the standard gauge Western line. Before the political changeover, border-crossing transport reached 16-18 million tons a year. This volume dropped to less than a third afterwards, and put an end to several reloading companies and jobs . The expected increase in railway transport from and to the East (Russia, Ukraine) and the Far East (China) presents a renewed demand for the expansion of logistical activities (reloading, goods management, warehousing, value adding processing activities) in the region. By now, traffic has already increased by 30-40% compared to its 2008 level, and new enterprises have also appeared in the forwarding market.
The purpose of this large project is to provide a high-quality core railway insfrastructure with an axle load which can serve an increasing freight traffic. Together with a number of other projects within the complex economy development programme of the New Széchenyi Plan, this project will contribute to extending logistical and production activities in this disadvantaged region. The region is also expecting the settlement of foreign enterprises with transport demands which will further increase traffic.
Supporting the objectives of this large project, another transport development project is also in progress in the region, which will develop the inland road infrastructure in harmony with industrial and logistical investments, with the aid of approximately 7 billion forints of EU and domestic support.