The Government supports transport safety developments within the framework of the New Széchenyi Plan 3 July 2012
The project support contract called “Transport safety project package in the MÁV network” was signed this week. All seven planned transport safety developments were given the green light by the agreement between the intermediate body and the railway company. Currently part of the work is in the planning and preparatory phase. The support amount awarded for the entire programme is therefore HUF 39 billion including the contract signed now, however, the planned total cost of implementation amounts to HUF 56 billion.
The improvement of transport safety is among the overall strategic objectives of the New Széchenyi Plan Transport Development Programme. To this end, at the initiative of the National Development Agency (NDA) public road managers and railway operators gave recommendations for accident prevention and targeted effective interventions in the networks managed by them. Based on the ideas of the Állami Autópályakezelő Zrt, MÁV Zrt, GySEV Zrt and Magyar Közút NZrt a transport safety programme consisting of a total of 7 projects was set up including targeted accident prevention and infrastructural interventions planned at the most dangerous locations.
The objective of the development is to prepare for the reconstruction of problematic railway crossings to make them safe for low vehicles too. In the railway network safety improving interventions will be performed at a total of 180 railway crossings, train sensors, diagnostics and monitoring equipment will be installed among others to continuously monitor the rail tracks, and a video track supervision system will also be implemented.
According to the planned developments junctions will be rebuilt at 11 locations of the express road network, rest areas will be extended, missing climbing lanes and traffic lanes will be constructed. Safer diversion signs will be used on motorways and highways, intelligent transport systems (ITS) will be installed, transport control will be modernised. High resistance crash barriers will be built to protect bridges and separated opposite direction lanes, dangerous water flows and water on the road will be eliminated, and interventions will be performed at several locations to prevent hitting animals.
Interventions will be performed at 69 accident points of the national main road network: dangerous curves, for example, will be reconstructed, left-turn lanes will be built, traffic control by traffic lights will be installed. 11 pedestrian crossings will become safer, 520 kilometres of barriers will be replaced, vehicle sensors will be installed and traffic lights controlled by passing vehicles will be introduced at 713 locations. The preparatory works for the reconstruction of 23 dangerous public road junctions will also begin.
The common characteristics of the developments supported by the Government are efficiency and relatively small costs, by which significant results could be achieved in terms of reducing the number of accidents and mitigating caused personal and material damage.
The European Commission emphasised that the Hungarian Government targeted a significant European Union requirement by the initiative as it defined its accident prevention developments as a programme using European Union assistance as first among the member states.