In an investment of over HUF 600m, Győr-Sopron-Ebenfurt Railway Company (GYSEV Ltd.) has fundamentally transformed public transport in the settlements along the Szombathely-Szentgotthárd railway line in the course of two years.
The railway company has now opened for traffic the last developments of its investments financed by the New Széchenyi Plan, it was announced in Körmend on 11 December, 2013. The Körmend railway station has been refurbished, car and bicycle parking facilities have been added to several railway stations and the overhead pedestrian crossing in Körmend has been completed as well. As a result of the series of developments, the number of passengers along the Szombathely-Szentgotthárd railway line has demonstrably grown already.
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Within the framework of the project, parking facilities for 192 cars and 792 bicycles have been established by the company at 10 various sites. Passengers are thus able to leave their locally used vehicles at the stations when switching to trains and reach their destinations travelling comfortably, door to door. New parking lots and bicycle parking facilities have been set up in Szombathely, Rátót, Szentgotthárd, Ják–Balogunyom, Egyházasrádóc, Körmend, Horvátnádalja, Alsórönök and Csákánydoroszló. In Csörötnek there are three new bus stops facilitating comfortable transport.
The Körmend station has been developed by GYSEV into an intermodal transport hub. The passengers of buses and trains are served at joint ticket offices and there is a uniform passenger information system displaying timetable information. The ground floor of the station has been refurbished; there is a comfortable, clean and nice waiting room and the overhead pedestrian crossing above the rails, equipped with an elevator, has been completed as well. All the new establishments have been granted certificates of use and opened for transport by 11 December 2013. The construction of the overhead crossing is still to continue towards the other part of the town and is expected to be completed by spring.
“Within a few days, GYSEV Ltd. will have its second significant development completed. In early December, the railway company reached the final stage of its modernisation of the Sopron–Szombathely–Szentgotthárd railway line, worth HUF 50 billion. In addition to the reconstruction of the 116 km rail track, four new multiple units are also scheduled to be put in for transport. Through the development of related services, the railway company is now able to offer perceptibly higher standard services to passengers”, Minister of State for Infrastructure Pál Völner said at the inauguration ceremony.
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“Our developments in Vas County aim to facilitate our goal to win as many people as possible for the cause of public transport. It is important to note that from the starting date of the new timetable on 15 December, the first up-to-date GYSEV FLIRT multiple units are to start running along this very section”, CEO of GYSEV Ltd. Szilárd Kövesdi pointed out.
The developments have measurable results in the passenger transport already. Compared to last October, the number of embarking and disembarking passengers in Körmend in the tenth month of this year was 11 percent higher on the average. Passengers along the whole Szombathely-Szentgotthárd railway line outnumbered last October’s figure by 5 percent. The developments having been completed, GYSEV Ltd expects further growth in passenger numbers.
(Ministry of National Development, Communications Department)
