The Budapest city administration does not like anything that would serve the interests of the residents of the capital and the agglomeration. It is not enough that car traffic has been made impossible, but public transport is also kicked where it hits. Now, for example, they have "aesthetic" problems with railway development.

The XV. According to the signs, it is important for the SE leadership of the district to avoid those "ugly constructions", even if they make the development of the district impossible and the lives of the residents significantly more difficult. Dávid Vitézy expressed his opinion on the new anti-railway action on his social media page.

Another Budapest district started an anti-railway campaign: this time, the XV. district, the environmental protection lawsuit initiated against the 71 Veresegyház-Vác railway line, which it successfully won in the first round, with quite incredible references

- wrote the transport expert, former state secretary, after the Southern Circular Railway project was challenged in court by the local government, thus jeopardizing the investment meant to ensure the country's rail connectivity.

The politician also reminded in his post that the government decided to prepare the renovation of the Veresegyház railway line in 2021, the government Budapest Development Center, which he led at the time, announced the design tenders, and the planning started. During the numerous negotiations during the planning, the XV. district was mostly skeptical from the beginning, apparently did not feel that the investment that would greatly increase the competitiveness of the railway from the northern agglomeration was important.

According to Vitézy, although they expressed their objections from an aesthetic point of view, they did not oppose the BFK's argument from a railway operational point of view in favor of the necessity of the art object, so from here on they mostly focused on making the design of the art object disturb the view of the neighborhood as little as possible. In 2022, however, the BFK ceased to exist, and with the municipal elections approaching, as elsewhere in Budapest, the district probably saw an opportunity for political gain in obstructing the government's railway development.

The XV. The head of the SE district, Angéla Cs. Németh, designated the construction project planned in the northern part of Rákospalota-Újpest as an enemy,

despite the fact that the art object does not require expropriation, it would be built on MÁV land, it would not affect anyone's garden or house, and moreover, no freight train would run on it, because there is no freight traffic on the Veresegyháza line, only the quiet electric locomotives that are still running today would run here in the future . Despite this, painting the art object as some kind of anti-population monster, harassing the population with freight trains in the 15th century. On behalf of the district, a lawsuit was filed against the investment. At that time, the BFK had already ceased to exist, and the Ministry of Construction, led by János Lázár, took over the investor duties.

So here we are again, where we are "used to": there is an unquestionably useful railway investment for the whole of Budapest and the renovation of Rákospalota-Újpest and the involvement of the Váci line for a total of approximately one hundred thousand residents of the agglomeration, which is thwarted or delayed for years by an opposition-led Budapest district for the purpose of political gain

he said. The local government of DK therefore boasts that it will "protect its own citizens from an ugly, large government investment", while not only does it not pose a threat to them, but it would significantly improve the quality of life in Budapest. According to Vitézy, the Ministry of Construction and Transport is listening, and perhaps even sees the possibility that it can postpone or suspend another railway investment in the Budapest area, and it cannot even be said that it has completely passed.

Featured image: MTI/Zsolt Szigetváry