Budapest-Belgrade railway line may open on February 20, minister says

"It may well be that I'm meeting you for the last time in this capacity," said János Lázár, Minister of Construction and Transport, at the start of a hearing before the Economic Committee of the Hungarian Parliament. He said that, depending on the outcome of the 2026 elections, there is a chance that he will not be speaking before the committee members in the coming years. He also thanked the members for their cooperation in the years since his appointment in 2022.

If everything goes according to plan, the Budapest-Belgrade railway line will be opened on February 20, he announced at the hearing. He said that construction had recently slowed down in Serbia, but had accelerated in Hungary – incidentally, the stretch between Subotica and Belgrade, i.e. the Serbian branch of the Budapest-Belgrade line, had already been opened in Serbia. He mentioned that the details of the loan agreement with the Chinese for the construction of the railway line are a trade secret and may be disclosed only with the consent of the parties.

At the hearing, the minister also mentioned the general investigation announced on Monday, which will review all subcontracts for public investments. He spoke of the loan application recently accepted by the European Investment Bank (EIB) as a great success, thanks to which railway infrastructure development projects worth nearly HUF 800 billion can be implemented.

Lázár considers it his task to move Hungary from the ranks of moderately developed countries to those of developed countries. A total of 1,930 people are employed in his ministry. Still, if one includes the companies under the Ministry of Construction and Transport, the ministry is Hungary's largest employer, with the MÁV-Volán group (railways and coach services) alone employing almost 50,000 people.

Photo: Lujza Hevesi-Szabó / Telex

He praised the fact that, in his opinion, public procurement efficiency between 2015 and 2025 was outstanding in international comparison. He also highlighted the increase in the number of people travelling on MÁV-Volán Group buses and trains since ticket prices have been lowered. "People are most important," he said, although he believes that "the goal is not only to make the service cheap, but also to make it good." He spoke of the toilet renovations announced in January as a success, even though many people ridiculed him, saying, "The minister is busy renovating loos." He said that currently, 75-80 percent of travellers can use renovated toilets.

However, he also said that almost half of the state roads are "in need of immediate intervention," so "whoever governs the country," the next government will also have to deal with the development of lower-ranked roads. He also mentioned the renovation of Budapest's HÉV (suburban railway) lines as an area for development, promising that the Szentendre HÉV would be the first to undergo a complete overhaul, including the trains, rails, and stops.

The government will settle its debts towards the capital by the end of the year, Lázár replied to MP Bence Tordai's question about when the government would pay the money it owes to the capital for the renovation of the Chain Bridge and the financing of public transport, for example. Regarding the capital's financial situation, he said that if Budapest is insolvent, insolvency proceedings must be initiated, as was the case with three municipalities in his own constituency.

When discussing the renovation of the Déli railway station and railway stations in the capital in general, he said that funding would be available for this only if private companies were involved, as has been done in several places abroad. In his opinion, MÁV will not have the funds to renovate the Budapest railway stations in the next 20 years.