Hungary To Modernize Zahony Border Railway Junction To Increase Grain Volume From Ukraine

The volume of grain arriving in Hungary from Ukraine by rail through the Zahony border railway junction is expected to increase thanks to an investment of USD 28 million in the modernization of the cross-border transshipment junction.

The CFTS portal reported this, citing the Rail Insider publication.

According to the publication, Hungary’s Minister of Industry and Technology Laszlo Palkovics and the Hungarian Ministry of Technology and Industry’s Secretary of State for Transport David Vitezy have held meetings with all Hungarian stakeholders (transshipment terminals, cargo carriers, Hungarian Railways, and the grain association) in recent weeks. In addition, talks were held with the management of the Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (Ukrzaliznytsia) in Berlin two weeks ago, following which the Hungarian government discussed an application for the necessary investments in the Zahony cross-border transshipment hub.

"Most of the war-torn country's income comes from agricultural exports. Africa and the Middle East used to buy a lot of grain from Ukraine, and some countries could be at risk of starvation if they don't get it now because of the limited capacity in the Black Sea. Drought has also forced Hungary to import grain this year," Vitezy said.

The HUF-12.4-billion works include upgrades of the Zahony and Epereshke stations to increase their throughput capacity.

"Railway infrastructure, logistics, and personnel management are facing an enormous challenge because of the sudden influx of new tasks. Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania must do everything to ensure that as much grain as possible is exported from Ukraine by rail. An increase in the volume of traffic is being blocked by broad-gauge wagons waiting to be unloaded or empty, as well as by regular wagons waiting to be loaded. Some areas are now impassable because of decades of disuse. Our goals now are to open the closed tracks, increase their throughput capacity, reach speeds of 20-40 km/h at sorting stations, and ensure safe working conditions at night," Vitezy said.