EU funding has allowed for a new project to install and test the Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway (GSM-R) on Hungary’s railways. This is an international wireless communications standard used for transmitting messages between train and railway regulatory control centres. The project aims to improve communication between trains and control centres on track position and speed so as to ensure more efficient and safe signalling.
Mobile communications system installed on Hungary’s railways
- 02 October 2017
The work covers three sections of track totalling 935 km in length, and key areas connected via the system included Hungary’s capital Budapest, the city of Cegléd, and the the city of Győr. The network travels out along the railways running to the borders with Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia and Romania.
One of the sections covered by the project includes the line between Hungary’s capital Budapest, the city of Cegléd, the village of Szajol and the town of Püspökladány, and that linking Szajol with the city of Békéscsaba, the village of Lőkösháza and the border with Romania.
Another section covers the line between Budapest, the city of Győr and the village of Hegyeshalom, as well as lines between Győr and the border with Slovakia at Komárom, Győr and the village of Boba, and Hegyeshalom and Rajka, near the point where Hungary, Austria and Slovakia meet.
Improvements to links between cities and national borders
The third section covers the railways linking the city of Sopron and the border with Austria between Ágfalva on the Hungarian side and Wulkaprodersdorf on the Austrian side, and Sopron, the city of Szombathely and Szentgotthárd on the border with Austria and close to that with Slovenia.
An additional element of the work entails upgrades to the lines between Kelenföld station in Budapest and the city of Székesfehérvár, and Boba and Bajánsenye on the border with Slovenia. This involves installation of advanced digital radio-based signalling technology in line with requirements of the European Train Control System, the signalling and control component of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS).
Increased interoperability on European railways
Objectives include increasing interoperability between the railway networks of different European countries – particularly in terms of communication – and implementing state-of-the-art rail traffic management within the framework of ERTMS. This should cut travel times for passengers and freight on TEN-T lines and raise levels of service. Furthermore, better communication management will improve safety.
The first phase of the project involved installation and testing of GSM-R technology on track around Budapest and Székesfehérvár, as well as planning of the second phase. Together, the two phases make up the first stage of a larger programme for procurement of GSM-R and related services. This is intended to ensure implementation of GSM-R on 3 064 km of Hungarian TEN-T railway.
Total costs for the first stage of the programme (phases one and two) come to more than EUR 83.4 million with the EU contributing EUR 51 557 652. The budget for phase two stands at just under EUR 29 million, of which in excess of EUR 19.3 million is provided through EU funding.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Procurement of GSM-R system and related services – Phase II” is EUR 28 918 534, with the EU’s Cohesion Fund contributing EUR 19 354 924 through the “Integrated Transport” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period.