Thanks to the joint tender of Ister-Granum EGTC, the Ministry of Construction and Transport and Hungarian Public Road Co., a new border crossing point has been inaugurated at the Slovak-Hungarian Danube section shortening by tens of kilometres the distance between the Mária Valéria Bridge between Esztergom and Štúrovo and the Erzsébet Bridge connecting Komárom and Komárno, thus making it possible to reach the settlements on both banks. The project was funded by the Interreg V-A Slovakia-Hungary Cooperation Programme.    

The ferry link realises a decades-long dream and aspiration of the people in the region. Since the 1990s, the Bridge Building Association, which includes thirteen settlements in the region, has been building a symbolic bridge that connects the inhabitants of small villages. The ferry will further help to integrate the area.

The ceremony was attended by Dr. Judit Czunyiné Bertalan, Member of Parliament of the region (HU), Peter Balík, Slovak Minister of Investment, Regional Development and Information and Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary. They stressed that shorter distances, in addition to personal contacts, might also strengthen economic ties in the region. The construction of the ferry will also support tourism. Hungary has the longest shared border with Slovakia, with thirty-six crossing points today, compared to the twenty-two that existed in 2010, the foreign minister stressed.

Since the implementation partly fell under the COVID-pandemic, the partners had to deal with a number of problems, said Péter Nagy, director of the Ister-Granum EGTC responsible for the investment part in Slovakia. They had to build the ramp and the service building on the Danube bank and manage all the related permitting processes.

Thanks to the grant, the ferry will be free of charge for the first two years after its completion. It can carry up to eight cars at a time, or up to 80 people without cars. The ferry runs eight round trips between the two coasts on weekdays and twelve at weekends. From Monday to Friday, the first departure is at 6 am and the last at 5 pm. On Saturdays and Sundays, the first crossing from Neszmély is at 6 am, and the last ferry leaves Radvaň nad Dunajom at 5.30 pm. The detailed timetable is available on the Ister-Granum’s website.

Source of the article: EGTC-Monitor

Source of the photos: Ister-Granum EGTC