UNStudio in Winning Consortium for Study into Budapest Rail Network Expansion UNStudio in Winning Consortium for Study into Budapest Rail Network Expansion
News - 14 December 2020

UNStudio in Winning Consortium for Study into Budapest Rail Network Expansion

UNStudio is in the winning consortium chosen by the Budapest Development Agency to undertake a feasibility study of a new railway tunnel under central Budapest.

The BFK formally signed the contract marking the start of the project on November 29, with the study to be completed within 18 months.

The project will offer a solution to boost the capacity of the existing rail network, creating more connections to the Hungarian capital from its surrounding suburban regions and other major cities across the country.

Our team at UNStudio will be responsible for the architectural and urban planning in the vicinity of the main stations.

BFK’s CEO, David Vitézy, described the project as a “huge step towards a new era of urban and suburban rail in Budapest.

“This long-term investment would create significant extra capacity for more rail services to Budapest from the suburban region and the major cities of Hungary and beyond,” he said.

Alongside UNStudio, the consortium consists of FŐMTERV Civil Engineering Design Pte. Ltd and SMA & Partners.

The study will cover all aspects of the route selection, conceptual railway scheduling for the whole region, engineering and construction feasibility, cost-benefit analysis including wider economic benefits and assessment of detailed construction costs, and an urban planning and design vision for the new stations and the unused railway lands beyond them.

The decision on whether to construct the tunnel will be made based on the study, after 2022.

BFK is a government agency focusing on state-funded urban development projects in the suburban area of Budapest.

UNStudio has a long history of designing infrastructure and mobility projects around the world, including the recently opened Doha Metro Network in Qatar and the Arnhem Central Railway Station in the Netherlands. We also teamed up with Buro Happold Engineering in 2018 to design a vision for the New Budapest Bridge.