Renewed Passenger Hall at Nyugati Railway Station

A modern, more comfortable hall with a modern digital passenger information system and new end-of-track displays awaits the nearly 18 million passengers who pass by the station every year, MÁV Hungarian Railways announced on Wednesday.

The renovation of the entire roof of Nyugati ('Western') station is scheduled to be completed by next summer while repairs to the internal vaulting and roofing of the ticket hall are expected to be completed by early 2022. A complete renovation of the lighting system in the station underpass, followed by the reconstruction of the suspended ceiling, will improve the passenger areas of the crossing tunnel, enhancing passenger comfort, the statement said.

As part of the accessibility improvements, smart tactile guide and hazard warning lanes for blind and visually impaired passengers will be installed in consultation with the National Association of the Hungarian Blind and Visually Impaired (MVGYOSZ), first in the track hall, then along the platforms outside the hall, and then in the crossing and side halls by 2022, the railway company said.

The new signs, used only in a few Belgian and Italian stations in Europe, are designed to provide audible information about safe traffic corridors, obstacles and hazards. The system user's Bluetooth-equipped cane, touching the walking surface, detects radio signals from the tags and transmits the information to a mobile phone application that reads the instructions aloud.

It was also noted that the new sensor-operated drinking fountain in the passenger hall commemorates 175 years of Hungarian railways.