DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUNGARIAN RAILROADS FOR SOVIET MILITARY PURPOSES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700120054-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 14, 2011
• Sequence Number: 54
• Publication Date: July 10, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIFICATION RESTRICTED
SECURITY INFORbMTIOU
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS
COUNTRY
Hungary
SUBJECT
I?li ~l t': ry: T?rnnnl~i r;
Geographic - Transportation, railroads, bridges
HOW
WHERE
PUBLISHED
Munich
DATE
PUBLISHED
Dec 1952
LANGUAGE
Hungarian
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REPORT
CD NO.
DATE OF
DATE DIST. /0 Jul 1953
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
Broad-Gauge Lines
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The first line to be converted to broad gauge was the Ungvar-Chop line,
Th. second broad-gauage line wh;c:i connects with the Hunger Ian 'State Rail-
roads is the Kordsmezo-Maranarossziget-Kiralyhnza line. It branches out of tha
L'vov-Czernovtsy broad-gauge line at Stani.^,lar and Kolordya. Its importance 1'?f:
The third broad-gauge line is the L'?:ov-iiukaceve-BuLyu line. It wa:: damaged
heavily during the war but i..ny, together with the Kira),,.haza-Batyu lic?e, iw ,)n-
sidered completely rebuilt.
The fourth broad-gauge line is planned along the "rzemysl-Mezolaboro-Homonna-
Satoraljaujhely route. It is designed to serve the Czechoslovak railroad net-
work via Kosice and the Hungarian railroad system vir: 'nwrn1juujhely. Construc-
tion is progressing at a rapid pace. The terminus o: the line is not known as yet.
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From the viewpoint of Hungary, the most important of the above lines is
that between Chop and Zahony. Currently, the bulk of Hungarian export ship-
ments to the USSR, as well as Soviet armament shipments and army personnel in
the opposite direction, passes through Zahony, the largest and most up-to-date
railroad station in Hungary.
Strategic East-West Transversal Lines
The railroad lines marked A. B, and C on the appended map are being de-
veloped with a view to serving Soviet aims, that is, for the receipt of ship-
ments arriving on broad-gauge lines.
Westbound transportation on these lines, two of which (A and B) are of
great capacity and one (C) of medium capacity, will be fast and efficient. The
capacity of these lines is far in excess of economic requirements. Work for
their further development is, however, continued, as a result of which they
constitute a threat to the west and Yugoslavia. The current stage of develop-
ment of these three lines is as follows:
Work to convert the last remaining section (Satoraljaujhely-Szerencs) of
line A into a double-track line has been completed. The line will be electri-
fied and, to avoid the sensitive Budapest terminals, has been connected with
the Vac-Szob-Bratislava line via the recently-constructed Galgamacs-Va.;ratot
section.
On line B, the laying of a second track between Debrecen and Kisujszallas
will be completed shortly. Between Zahony and Komoro, as well as north of Nyi-
regyhaza, the second track is partly completed and partly still under construc-
tion. It is planned to lay a second track along the entire length of the Buda-
pest-Zahony line.
The development of line C has two main objectives: (1) to reinforce the
Nagyvarad-Dombovar transversal. lone, and (2) to detour Yugoslavia. With the
latter objective in view, the Nagyvarad-Bekescsaba-Oroshaza-Szeged line will
be connected with Baja via Kiskunfelegyhaza. As a result, the Kiskunfelegyhaza-
Bacsallnas section had to be reinforced.
Strategic Detour Lines
The three east-west transversal line,., will be able to satisfy Soviet stra-
tegic requirements only if provided with strong bridges and an adequate number
of interconnecting detour lines.
Until recently, line A had two important det.:?ur branches, namely, Miskolc-
Banreve-Fulek and Kal-Kapolna (or Hatvan)-Salgotarjan-Fulek. In addition, the
highly important new detour line, Aszod-Vac, has recently been completed.
The northern detour branches of line B are the first-class Szerencs line
across the Tokaj bridge and the Fuzesabony line across the Tisnafured bridge.
The latter has been converted into a main line since the end of the war. The
reinforces Ujszasz-Hatvan line is in very good condition. The same purpose
may also be served by the Kisujszallas-Kal-Kapolna line in case the ;Ciskore
bridge should be rebuilt and by a new line, for which plans have been prepared,
over the Tisza bridge at Polgar.
The northern detour branches of line C are: Szatmarnemeti-Nyiregyhazu;
Ermihalyfalva?Debrecen; Nagvvarad-Puspokladany; Bekescsaba-Szajol; and Oroshaza-
Kiskunfelegyhaza. When completed, the Mateszalka-Debrecen line, including the
delta between Dombostanya and Apefa, will form a new detour.
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Strategic Bridges, the Budapest Subway
The Tisza and Danube bridges are marked with circles on the appended map.
The Tisza bridges are as follows:
The Chop-Zahony large-capacity bridge with three rails, that is, suitable
for both broad-gauge and standard-gauge traffic:
The Polgar highway bridge, located between the Tokaj bridge and the rein-
forced Tiszafured bridge, is also capable of carrying railroad traffic. The
recent increase in railroad-station capacity, together with track-reinforce-
ment work carried out in the northern part of the Tiszafured branch line, con-
firms reports of the existence of plans for the construction of a new Tisza
bridge between Polgar and the Mezocsat line.
The Kiskore bridge has not yet been completed. The Szolnok bridge has been
enlarged. Further to the south, a new detour line has been built between Tiszaug
and Kunszentmarton, with a delta extending toward Tiszatenyo (previously Puszta-
tenyo).
The capacity of the Csongrad and Algyo bridges has not been increased. The
Szoreg railroad bridge has not been rebuilt due to its proximity to the Yugoslav
border.
The Danube bridges are in a less favorable situation. However, the destroyed
old bridges are being rebuilt and new bridges are being constructed rapidly. As
e. result, transportation across the Danube will soon be better than it was dur-
ing the war.
The Bratislava bridge (not indicated on the appended map) has been completed.
The Komarom bridge is under construction. The northern railroad bridge at Buda-
pest (No 1 on inset to appended map) is also being rebuilt and will, apparently,
have double track. The Sztalin bridge (No 2 on inset to appended map) will also
serve as a railroad bridge between the Vizafogo and Obuda.
The new Margit bridge is stronger than its predecessor. South of the Margit
bridge, the subway tube under the Danube will provide a good and safe double-
track passage between Keleti Palyaudvar (East Railroad Station) and Deli Palyau-
dvar (South Railroad Station) (inset 4).
The new subway will, by means of deltas, connect with the old subway (FAV --
Foldalatti Vasut, Underground Railway) and the Obuda BEV (Helyierdeku Vasut, Sub-
urban Railway). Thereby the connection between the Rakes marshaling yard, Obuda,
and the South Railroad Station will be completed.
The Petofi bridge (previously Horthy Bridge) at Boraros-ter (inset 5) has
been rebuilt. It is now suitable for railroad traffic also.
The capacity of the Budapest southern railroad bridge (inset 6) will be in-
creased. The bridge is currently being enlarged.
The capacity of both the recently rebuilt Dunafoldvar bridge and the Baja
bridge is greater than prviously.
As will. be seen from the foregoing, the transportation capacity acro::s the
Danube will shortly be much greater than previously. In this connection, the
Aszod-Vac detour mentioned above is of particularly great importance, since it
will serve to detour the westbound traffic of both the Miskolc and Debrecen main
lines from the sensitive Budapest railroad stations.
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Southwestern Lines
The development of the Hungarian State hailroads in the southwestern direc-
tion, that is, toward Yugoslavia, deserves special treatment. For this reason,
the south-southwestbound detour lines were not discussed in the foregoing.
The northern detour branches of line B may also be used for southbound traf-
fic from line A by means of the deltas built for this special purpose (as, for
example, Szerencs, Fuzesabony, etc.).
To assure the uninterrupted flow of southbound traffic, the Debrecen-Nagy-
varad and Tiszatenyo-Kungyalu lines were reinforced and the new Kunszentmarton
line leading toward Kiskunhalas was built in the KLngyalu-Tiszaug delta.
As a parallel of the Hatvan-Miskolc section, the Budapest-Szekesfehervar
section will be electrified and equipped with double track. It will be able to
serve the southwestern lines along Lake Balaton ad^quately.
The lines passing through Pecs have been rebuilt. The Pusztaszabolcs-Paks
section will be extended, via Tolnamozs, as far as Szekszard and continued, via
Bata, as far as Mohacs. This project will create a new southbound main line.
The branch lines fanning out of Pecs and Szentlorinc toward the Yugoslav
border have been reinforced and their stations have been enlarged.
The planned Kisujszallas-Turkeve-Szarvas-Kunszentmarton-Tiszaug-Fulopszallas-
Sblt-Retszilas transversal line is designed to develop both east-westbound and
wouthwestbound traffic. The Kunszentmarton-Tiszaug section of this line has been
completed, while the Dunafoldvar-Retszilas section is currently under construc-
tion. Temporarily, the latter section will be restricted to traffic between
Komlo and Sztalinvaros.
The lines whose capacity has been increased or is being increased have been
indicated on the appended map by a heavy line.
The over-all development plan of the Hungarian State Railroads clearly shows
the predominance of Soviet requirements. The plan was designed with two objec-
tives in view. The first objective is to create a railroad net with a suffi-
ciently large capacity to permit the rapid massing of Soviet troops west of the
Danube and in southern Hungary. The second objective is to resist heavy air at-
tack, at least at the outbreak of hostilities, by numerous detours and bridges.
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DtVELOPl4ENT Or THE hUNGARIAN STATE RAILROADS AFTER 1945
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