HUNGARY: After the successful completion of final tests on February 27, ETCS Level 2 trackside equipment was activated on the 25·2 km Százhalombatta – Pusztaszabolcs section of the 228 km Budapest – Pécs main line on March 1.
Siemens Mobility has deployed the signalling system on the 45·7 km Budapest Kelenföld – Százhalombatta – Pusztaszabolcs section with the Kelenföld – Százhalombatta leg to go live later. The HF16·6bn project was funded from domestic and European Union sources including the Connecting Europe Facility tool.
A key feature of the HF156bn package to rebuild the Százhalombatta – Pusztaszabolcs section was the realignment of the Százhalombatta – Ercsi Elágazás section, where 13 km of new line has eliminated a series of sharp curves and severe gradients. The legacy route has been retained to provide access to MOL’s Dunai Finomító oil refinery. This section was reopened in July 2022.
The line speed on the Százhalombatta – Pusztaszabolcs section was raised from 120 km/h to 160 km/h, but the timetable on the section of line remains the same for now. According to Zsolt Hegyi, CEO of national railway group MÁV-Volán, this will give the route greater resilience by enabling trains to make up time after delays by exploiting the higher speed limit.
ETCS progress in Hungary
The national railway says this is the first installation of ETCS Level 2 on the MÁV network, but Level 1 is fitted on the Hungarian section of the Budapest – Győr – Wien main line, and it is in operation on the Sopron – Szombathely – Szentgotthárd line, which fall under cross-border railway GySEV’s management.
Hegyi reported that Level 2 is also undergoing commissioning on the Budapest – Székesfehérvár line, while signalling on the Hungarian section of the Budapest – Beograd main line will also enable operation at up to 160 km/h.
