Building a metro is more expensive in Budapest than almost everywhere else

Construction of Budapest's fourth subway line, Metro 4, costs more than similar investments in other European cities, Magyar Hírlap writes. The price of the project, which is at an early stage and expected to be completed in 2013, is continuously increasing and has exceeded Ft 500 billion (over €2 billion). Project director DBR denies this information and claims that the costs are not higher than the international average, writes gazdasagirado.hu.

According to Magyar Hírlap, the main problem with the project is that it is progressing at a slow pace. Drills should advance 20 meters per day without stopping, while they cost tens of millions of forints even when they are idle.

The paper wrote that the Czech capital of Prague built a kilometers of subway line from Ft 34 billion, which costs over Ft 50 billion in Budapest, though the price includes surface work as well, and having to drill under the Danube River also adds to the costs.

Madrid would build a subway line similar to Metro 4 within three years from Ft 96 billion, the paper learned from Inforádió. During the previous four years, the city built 90 kilometers of subway lines and 80 stations. The project cost €4.4 billion, only a little more than twice the price of Metro 4.

For its part, the DBR said subway constructions in different cities cannot be compared. In Hungary, M4 counts as the largest and most complicated investment, making leeways and rising costs unavoidable. Their statement also said that a station and the attached tunnel stretch costs Ft 50 billion both in Budapest and Prague, while there price excludes surface works, which means M4 is even cheaper than the subway in the Czech capital. As for Madrid, the cost of construction also excludes surface works, the project is exempt from VAT, and favorable soil conditions lower the price as well, the DBR wrote.

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