Chinese playground? – Budapest newspaper – 2024-05-02 07:53:50

Express train to the airport

Written by Rainer Ackermann

The green opposition is attacking the project of a “floating” rapid transit line between Budapest city center and the airport.

The independent top candidate for the office of mayor of Budapest, Dávid Vitézy, expressed sharp criticism. “Budapest must not become the playground of the Chinese,” he warned, referring to an article by the specialist portal iho.hu, according to which the Chinese luxury project might be given priority. (This is referenced by negotiations that Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó recently held in Beijing regarding transport projects, as well as statements by Chancellery Minister Gergely Gulyás at the government press conference, according to which public railway projects in particular might be awarded to market players.)

Detached from the given infrastructure

Plans have been in place for years to integrate the “Ferenc Liszt” international airport into the local, regional and long-distance rail network in order to make Budapest even more attractive for domestic rail travelers. The concept of a rapid transit line would be implemented completely independently of the existing infrastructure and would solely serve the needs of tourists traveling to Hungary by plane. Transport expert Vitézy fears a state treaty that would make the Orbán government dependent on foreign investors, similar to the case with the metro. At the Metro, Russian subway cars were modernized instead of relying on modern (Western) solutions.

Rail connection important, but…

On Monday, LMP co-chairman Péter Ungár agreed with the criticism. For the green alternative party, it is clear as day that Budapest needs a rail connection to the international airport. To do this, however, “only” the plans that have been put away in the drawer would have to be dusted off and implemented, which would increase the flexibility of regional and long-distance transport. The Chinese suspension railway project would be an “unforgivable mistake”. On top of that, there have been extremely bad experiences with large-scale investments in Europe that were financed with Chinese loans. Taxpayers have a right to know what costs the Orbán government is imposing on them with this project.