High-speed rail connection with Hungary should boost regional development

Linking Warsaw and Budapest with a high-speed rail connection may change the EU's transport map and have a positive economic impact on the region, Poland's Infrastructure Minister Andrzej Adamczyk said on Thursday.

Adamczyk discussed the project with visiting Hungarian Foreign and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto.

"The consolidation of co-operation of our countries regarding a Warsaw-Budapest
high-speed rail link is certainly an undertaking of civilisational dimension, fully reflecting the Polish government's policy supporting innovations aimed at the strengthening of the country's transport system," said Minister Adamczyk.

He added that such a rail connection may become "a flywheel for Poland's economy, thanks to which we will be able to fully take advantage of our competitive edge."

"I am convinced that the idea of connecting our countries by a high-speed rail network is undoubtedly a project which may change the EU's transport map and have a positive (economic - PAP) impact on our region," stressed the Polish minister.

The two ministers also discussed the development of the Via Carpathia route and the Amber Rail Freight Corridor. Adamczyk noted that his ministry gave priority to projects aimed at improving accessibility and coherence of the transport network not only in Poland but also in the remaining Visegrad Group countries.

Via Carpathia is a vital part of an international transport corridor which may become a new connection between northern and southern Europe, integrating the transport systems of Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece. It would reach destinations including the Romanian port of Constanta on the Black Sea and Thessaloniki in Greece, on the Aegean Sea.