The Hungarian Railway Conference was held in Budapest on September 18, 2025, organized by the HUNGRAIL Magyar Vasúti Egyesület, with the participation of CER Hungary Zrt. as a gold-level sponsor. The central message of the event was railways as the future of sustainable transport, with a particular focus on network development and fleet modernization. A key topic at the conference was the growth of public transport, which resulted in the MÁV Group handling one billion journeys in 2024.
In his presentation, Wilhelm Patzner, CEO of CER Cargo Group, emphasized that the key to growth in European rail freight transport lies in digital capacity management, interoperability, and intermodal developments. At the same time, he drew attention to the uncertainty of financing, slow licensing processes, and technical fragmentation, which hinder development. According to Patzner, the completion of the TEN-T network, the introduction of ERTMS and digital automatic central switches (DAC, DCM), and the provision of EU subsidies are vital for competitiveness.
The expert also pointed out that Chinese investments, especially in electric vehicles and renewable energy, could generate significant new trade flows to Hungary, Serbia, and Turkey. In addition, Eurasian rail transport, especially the Middle Corridor route, offers opportunities for rapid growth, but further infrastructure and digital developments are needed.
The conference also presented the MÁV Group s vehicle and infrastructure development goals, as well as discussing the social role of railways and the importance of green technologies for the future.