Szeged-Hódmezővásárhely Tram-train
The Szeged-Hódmezővásárhely Tram-train is a tram-train system under construction in Hungary between two of the most important cities of Csongrád County, Szeged (the county seat) and Hódmezővásárhely (a city with county rights). Construction has begun on 4th April 2018, and is planned to be complete by 2021.
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Area served | Szeged Hódmezővásárhely,  |
| Transit type | Tram-train |
| Line number | 1 |
| Operation | |
| Began operation | 2021 (planned) |
| Operator(s) | MÁV-START |
History
Many commute between the two cities during the school days, 60% of which by public transport. The cities are connected by regional buses and a train service that runs by the hour. The distance between the two bus stations is 26,2 km (16,2 miles) and the journey takes about 30-37 minutes (depending on the number of stops the bus has to take). Because of the traffic jams caused by the number of vehicles and the number of passengers, most buses are up to 10 minutes late.
There is also a train service between Szeged and Hódmezővásárhely provided by a fleet of diesel trains, however this system is poorly operated as there is only one track available with the trains running on an hourly basis with a maximum speed of 80 km/h (50 mph).
In 2007, a plan was made for the Szeged Transport Ltd. and by 2016 permission for construction was given.
The project
The goal of the project is to create a modern, frequent, easy and fast mean of public transport between the two cities. The system is planned to connect with the old Szeged-Békéscsaba railway, tram line 1 in Szeged and there's also planning of creating a brand new tram system in Hódmezővásárhely the tram-train can connect with.
Route
- Szeged pályaudvar
- Szeged-Rókus
- Algyő
- Kopáncs
- Hódmezővásárhelyi Népkert
- Bartók Béla u.
- Hősök tere
- Kossuth tér
- Kálvin János tér
- Hódmezővásárhely vasútállomás
Fleet
In 2017, MÁV-START (a subsidiary of MÁV for passenger transport) a tender for the fleet of hybride-diesel trams that would run on the system. This ended on February 8th 2017 with Stadler winning with its Stadler Citylink trams. The first couple of vehicles are to be delivered by July 2020 with the last ones planning to arrive in Hungary one year later. A depot is under construction by the Szeged-Rendező.
Criticism
The project received most of the criticism for its budget overruns. In 2017 János Lázár, former mayor of the town of Hódmezővásárhely criticized the National Infrastructure Developing Company (NIF Zrt.) for letting the price tag go up from the 23,5 billion HUF (approx. 70 million Euros) estimated in the feasibility study to 71 billion HUF (approx. 210 million Euros), as of 2017, mostly due to the price increase on the railway line reconstruction that costs 48,5 bln HUF.[1][2] However, Lázár continued to support the project as the member of the government.