Hungary: Cabinet Approves HUF 31bn Gubacsi Danube Rail Bridge Replacement
Hungary’s government has approved construction of a new Danube railway bridge in Budapest to replace the ageing Gubacsi crossing, Transport and Investment Minister Dávid Vitézy said after Wednesday’s cabinet meeting. The investment is valued at HUF 31 billion, about €85 million.
Vitézy said freight trains have been restricted to 5 km/h on the Gubacsi railway bridge since 2014 because of its condition. He said the bridge nonetheless remains one of Hungary’s most important freight rail links, carrying an estimated 10–15% of national rail freight. “Today we can finally talk about the solution,” he wrote after the cabinet decision.
Construction of the new railway bridge is scheduled to begin at the end of 2026, with completion expected by the end of 2029. Vitézy said construction plans are complete and a valid building permit is in place, but that the project had been halted under the previous government.
Once finished, the ministry said the new bridge should remove one of Hungary’s main railway bottlenecks, improve access to the Freeport of Csepel and nearby container terminals, enable more freight to move from road to rail, and reduce heavy road traffic in the surrounding area. The government will also begin preparing modernisation of the road section of the Gubacsi bridge and improvements at the nearby Corvin junction.
Vitézy said ministers will examine whether the existing railway bridge structure could be converted and refurbished for heavy road traffic once rail services move onto the new bridge. If that proves technically impossible, a completely new road bridge may be required later.
The Gubacsi replacement is presented as one of the first major infrastructure projects under the Baross Gábor Railway Development Plan, the government’s 10-year, HUF 3,550 billion rail programme announced on 22 July. That programme also includes new rolling stock, station renovations, suburban rail improvements and preparations for an airport rail link. Vitézy described the bridge decision as more than a single structure replacement and as an early signal of renewed long-term rail investment after years of constraint on the crossing.
Daily News Hungary reported the cabinet decision on 22 July, citing Vitézy’s post-cabinet announcement and the HUF 31 billion cost figure. The bridge sits on a freight path where even walking-speed operation has been tolerated for more than a decade because of the volume that still has to cross the Danube south of central Budapest.