Nyugati Railway Station renovation cancelled

Hungary has already won HUF 1.1 billion (EUR 2.8 million) in a tender to renovate the Nyugati Railway Station in the spring. The upgrading of the station was cut out of the EU grant contract for several reasons. It was published in the Hungarian Gazette (Magyar Közlöny) that the government had cancelled the contract.

Ákos Krakkó, press officer at the Ministry of Construction and Transport, told Index.hu that the funds would be called up again under a new tendering procedure. The project will therefore be completed. The changes are being made on the proposal of the Minister of Construction and Transport, János Lázár.

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Hungary has won HUF 1.1 billion in funding. The grant agreement was a contract for the further development of the Nyugati Railway Station. It is both one of Hungary’s most important railway monuments and its busiest transport hub.

The reasons behind the cancellation of the contract

Some journalists misunderstand the issue of the planning resources related to the renovation of the Nyugati Square. The so-called European Instrument for the Financing of the Network was on the project list for the design of the Nyugati Railway Station, said Ákos Krakkó to Index.hu.

“However, this project is not being carried out at the moment because of the Brussels sanctions policy, the priority of defence objectives and the defence of the cuts in the budget – so, by consequence, there is no reason to plan it now.”

As with the last competition in 1874, which resulted in the creation of the beautiful Eiffel Hall at the Nyugati Railway Station, the competition has attracted the interest of the world’s best, according to the tender’s official website.

In the first round, 36 architectural firms applied for the contract. According to an earlier article of Index.hu, after several days of discussion, the jury finally chose the world-famous British architecture firm, Grimshaw Architects to design the project. At the results announcement, the jury was particularly pleased to see that Hungarian architects had worked on the winning projects.

The plans were to create a three-level, partially underground Nyugati Railway Station. It was planned to be renovated as a modern, 21st century railway station, with a six-track underground station. This would have allowed Budapest to accommodate many more trains than before. Nyugati Square would have also be renovated and transformed into a green space.

“The funds for the design of the Nyugati Railway Station will be recalled under a new procedure to support these investments,” said Ákos Krakkó.

He added that the new list of projects includes developments that all have a beneficial impact on the economy, such as those that have a positive influence on the capital, the Southern Circular Railway (Déli Körvasút), the development of the Debrecen-Nyíregyháza railway line and capacity increases in the Hungarian-Ukrainian border traffic.

The other visual plans are available on the National Transport Centre’s website.

Source: Index.hu