Hungary has a relatively dense railway network compared to other EU countries. The majority of Hungary's rail lines are electrified and a significant portion are double track. Hungary also has a higher percentage of freight transported by rail compared to the EU average, giving rail a competitive advantage for longer transport distances. Railway access charges in Hungary are similar to other countries in the region like Lithuania and Estonia, and lower than countries with higher traffic densities like Poland and Slovakia. This competitive access pricing allows Hungary to efficiently transport freight to and from neighboring countries like Ukraine, Romania, and Serbia.

1. Hungarian Rail Office 2007 Hungary: railway networks

2. Railway network density 2006, km/1000 km 2 Hungarian Rail Office 2007

3. Electrified lines 2006, % of total network Hungarian Rail Office 2007

4. Double track lines 2006, % of total network Hungarian Rail Office 2007

5. Modal split in freight transport EU-27, 2005 . Hungarian Rail Office 2007 With longer transport distances and lower population densities, railways are more competitive in Central- and Eastern European countries. The downside is the lower cost-efficiency pressure. The Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary and Slovenia has more favourable modal split than other EU countries. Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden have even higher shares of the rail mode. Hungary: relatively high rail ma r ket share in the intermodal competition, access to more rail-dependent economies such as Romania, the Ukraine.

6. Staff per network kilometre , 2005. Hungarian Rail Office 2007

7. Rail network access charges EU-27, 2005. Hungarian Rail Office 2007 EU15, Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Slovenia offers lower access charges. Poland, Slovakia, Latvia offer higher access charges. Hungary, Lithuania, Estonia offers similar access charges. New members state generally do not give state aid for the maintenance of the rail infrastructure, but offer access to fast growing transport markets. The infrastructure managers in these countries also have low efficiency. Hungary: competitive access prices to/from Ukraine, Romania and Southern Eastern Europe.

8. Rail network access charges EU-27, 2005 . Hungarian Rail Office 2007 Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania: wide gauge, higher access fees, higher traffic density. Poland, Slovakia: higher access fees, higher traffic density. Portugal, Denmark: lower access fees, lower traffic density. Other EU: lower access charges, lower traffic density. Hungary: competitive access prices to/from Ukraine, Romania , Serbia and Southern Eastern Europe. New initiatives to facilitate border crossing to/from Croatia, Serbia.