Losses may force closure of 700 km of Hungarian railway

According to various media reports, a total of 21 low-traffic railway lines covering 700 kilometers of track will not be used in Hungary after this year. While the exact figures will not be known until the middle of December, the threat of closures is very real. In March of this year, service was stopped on 14 railway lines, with the impacted settlements now being served by buses.

Railway magazine Indóház published the following list of 21 railway lines it says will be closed:

• Almásfüzítő-Esztergom

• Körmend-Zalalövő

• Balatonmáriafürdő-Somogyszob

• Mezőfalva-Paks

• Börgönd-Sárbogárd

• Godisa-Komló

• Pécs-Pécsvárad

• Villány-Mohács

• Balassagyarmat-Ipolytarnóc

• Szilvásvárad-Putnok

• Abaújszántó-Hidasnémeti

• Tiszafüred-Karcag

• Sáránd-Létavértes

• Mátészalka-Csenger

• Tiszalök-Ohat-Pusztakócs

• Újszeged-Mezőhegyes

• Mezőhegyes-Battonya

• Mezőhegyes-Orosháza-Szarvas

• Kisszénás-Kondoros

• Vésztő-Kőrösnagyharsány

• Szentes-Orosháza

Meanwhile, the regional offices of the Traffic Science Institute (KTI) made a proposal on Monday as to which railway lines should be closed due to reoccurring losses. László Horváth, head of the Central Transdanubian Regional Office of the KTI, said: "Looking at the list of 21 lines, I can say that our analysis includes lines that are not on the list known from the media, while that list includes some that according to our calculations should not be closed."

State railway company MÁV and the ministry of transport earlier said that unprofitable railway lines would be closed only temporarily and could be opened again any time if needed.

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