Gulyas: HUF 4.6bn allocated to connecting Budapest metro, suburban rail

Gulyas, who is also the minister responsible for the development of the capital and its suburbs, told a press conference that the Budapest Development Centre, a body comprising government and municipal officials, took over the planning of reconstruction works from the municipality in 2020.

The decision makes it possible to finish the reconstruction in the 2021-2027 European Union financial period, Gulyas said.

Gulyas insisted the city’s development was “stalling”, with its performance falling in areas in which the local authority oversaw important tasks. “There is a lot more rubbish, traffic jams and homeless people on Budapest’s streets than before,” Gulyas said.

Meanwhile, the city’s opposition leadership and the government were “doomed to cooperate” in the interest of the city’s development, he said. Boosting public transport is a priority within that process, he said.

Kristof Szatmary of Fidesz, the lawmaker representing the district in parliament, said the full investment was expected to come to some 200 billion forints, including the connection of the metro and suburban railway lines, the full reconstruction of the suburban line, procurement of new train carriages, and taking certain sections of the HEV underground.