Ferenc Joo

AUSTRO-Hungarian operator Györ-Sopron-Ebenfurth Railway (GySEV) is seeking a €40m loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to help finance the acquisition of new electric locomotives.

THE Hungarian government has authorised Forints 30bn (€96m) for 100 new IC+ long-distance coaches for national passenger operator MÁV-Start.

HUNGARIAN State Railways (MÁV) will begin tendering shortly for contracts to begin electrifying the line along the northern shore of Lake Balaton.

THE Hungarian government is to commission a study into the closure of Budapest Déli, one of the capital's three main railway stations.

GYÖR-Sopron-Ebenfurth Railway (GySEV) is planning to acquire 26 surplus inter-city coaches from Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) for use on Sopron - Budapest services in a deal worth Forints 3.1bn ($US 11.1m).

ALMOST two years after it opened and 10years after the start of construction, Budapest metro Line 4 finally received authorisation for automatic operation on January 6.

THE long-planned connection between the southern and northern tram systems on the Buda side of Budapest finally became a reality on January 16, transforming public transport services in the west of the Hungarian capital.

REPRESENTATIVES of Hungarian State Railways (MÁV), Györ-Sopron-Ebenfurth Railway (GySEV) and the Ministry of National Economics and Development signed contracts at the end of December to operate and manage the country's mainline rail infrastructure for the next 10 years.
The previous five-year agreement expired last year and changes were needed due to the Recast Directive and subsequent changes the Hungarian Railway Act.

A project to connect the southern and northern tram systems on the Buda side of Hungary's capital reached a milestone on the evening of November 22, when the first trams passed over the newly-completed line between Margithíd and Batthyány tér.

REPRESENTATIVES of Dunakeszi Railway Works, Hungary, and CAF signed a contract on November 4 to localise the final assembly of CAF Urbos LRVs for Budapest Transport Company (BKV).