A direct North-South freight transport connection may be established along the Hungarian-Slovakian border at Esztergom by next spring. The new freight ferry may carry 70-80 lorries across the Danube per day, Minister of State for Infrastructure Pál Völner announced in Esztergom on 28 March, 2014.
The Mária Valéria Bridge inaugurated in 2001 cannot be used for freight transport due to a weight limit. The closest bridges – Erzsébet Bridge in Komárom towards the West and Megyeri Bridge in Budapest towards the East – are in a distance of 40-50 kilometres. Freight transportation by road in the Esztergom, Dorog and Sturovo region involves long detours and considerable extra costs and time loss, as well as unnecessary environmental burden.
The freight ferry port may be established at a distance of 1.5 km West of Esztergom. The joint Hungarian-Slovakian investment is to be granted subsidies of a total value of EUR 3.85m from EU and national sources. The ferry with a loading surface of 400 m2 and 16 t axle load capacity will simultaneously accommodate, depending on the sizes and loads of the vehicles, four lorries. The estimated time of crossing calculated from the start of embarkation to the end of debarkation is some 15-25 minutes.
“The investment will have a favourable impact on the development of the regions concerned and act as a catalyst in opening up new employment opportunities, invigorating the activities of already operating businesses and stimulating new investments. Putting the freight ferry into operation will be the first step in establishing an environment friendly transportation system. Its operation may help, through the establishment of a logistics centre combining several ways of transportation, to shift a significant part of the freight transport of Trunk Road 11to rail or waterways”, Pál Völner pointed out.
Head of Communications of the National Infrastructure Development (NIF) Ltd., the leading partner on Hungary’s part, Dániel Loppert added that the investment also included the construction of a 605 m long access road to the port, a container office facility at the port, a parking lot as well as an internal service road. The public procurement procedures related to project implementation and engineering are underway; the agreements with the winners may be signed in the first half of this year already.
(Ministry of National Development)
