The Forints 35bn ($US 159m) contract covers the following lines:

• Budapest area

• Budapest – Székesfehérvár

• Budapest – Győr – Hegyeshalom

• Győr – Celldömölk – Boba – Zalaegerszeg – Bajánsenye (Slovenian border)

• Budapest – Cegléd – Szolnok – Szajol – Püspökladány

• Szajo – Lökösháza, and

• Sopron – Szombathely – Szentgotthárd (Austrian border)

The project will be completed within two years of contract signing and will enable the installation of ETCS Level 2 trackside equipment on these lines, which are all important transit routes or lines that have recently been rebuilt for operation at speeds exceeding 120km/h.

The contract includes very high penalties for delays, with a charge of €200,000 per day for the first 10 days and €500,000 per day thereafter.

In the longer term a second GSM-R tender is proposed for other lines which are being upgraded, including Püspökladány – Debrecen – Nyíregyháza – Záhony, Budapest – Miskolc – Nyíregyháza, and Székesfehérvár – Keszthely. The project should be implemented within two years of signing the contract.