A new high-speed rail link between Budapest and Warsaw should also seriously reduce travel times to Vienna, Bratislava and Prague, according to a new feasibility study published by the Ministry of Innovation and Technology. Work should be completed within the next decade. A Hungarian-only video shows how a reconfigured existing line from Budapest’s Kelenföld station through Törökbálint will cut the current timetable considerably.
Turizmus.com has announced that you’ll be able to travel from Budapest to
Vienna and Bratislava in under two hours, Prague in 3.5 hours, and Warsaw in 5.5
hours once the Budapest-Warsaw High Speed Railway is completed within the
next decade.
The line would also provide faster connections with main destinations
in Western Europe, integral to an overall planet-friendly strategy to encourage
more people to travel by train rather than drive or fly.
According to the ministry, as this video shows (Hungarian-only) the track could also be used to increase
capacity on domestic InterCity services, offering a more competitive
alternative to driving to Lake Balaton.
Work is expected to begin in the early 2030s, but the reconstruction of
the existing tracks from Budapest's Kelenföld station to Törökbálint and beyond could start even
earlier.
After Székesfehérvár and Győr, the line
would leave Hungary towards Bratislava at Rajka, and towards Vienna at
Hegyeshalom.
On tracks designed for 350km/hr trains, passengers could be travelling at 250-320km/hr, except in built-up areas. There would be two or more classes of compartment, with buffets and dining cars.
