Gloomy prospects: Hungarian State Railway’s trains may not survive this summer
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The Hungarian State Railway, MÁV’s Intercity coaches may not survive this summer. Besides regional services, Intercity trains have serious shortcomings. Meanwhile, the government has halted the purchase of the new Intercity fleet for budgetary reasons.
New IC trains in MÁV’s fleet, the situation is still dramatic
Even though MÁV has added 120 electric trains to its fleet in the last 10 years, the former state secretary for transport says the situation of the Hungarian railway fleet is dramatic. In an interview with növekedés.hu, Dávid Vitézy pointed out that besides the regional services, Intercity trains are facing serious shortcomings.
“It happens every day that an InterCity train breaks down, and MÁV replaces InterCity coaches with outdated high-speed coaches without air conditioning, causing long delays and disruptions. This can become a limit to passenger growth,” said Vitézy. According to him, it is impossible to attract passengers with vehicles in such a condition.
Procurement stopped, questionnable how the fleet will survive this summer
He pointed out that the government has stopped the procurement of the new Intercity fleet for budgetary reasons. Meanwhile, the demand for new rail vehicles in Europe is now so high that manufacturers are working with a 4-5 year waiting list.
What is more, as he implied, it is questionable for him how MÁV’s long-distance fleet will survive this summer season, let alone the next 3-4 or even 5 years.
But plenty of money for the military and give outs to get pregnant. What is it that Victor’s son in law sells? Obliarchs do not take trains.
The commenter who bemoans giving Hungarian mothers incentive money… SMH… Because looking after trains in more important than looking after the survival of your nation. No words… Anyway, regarding the railroad, privatize the whole thing. If it’s meant to survive, a private company will make it happen. If not, maybe the trains need to go the way of horse-drawn carriages. I take the Deli-Zagreb train quite frequently and it is never more than 5-10% full, even the leg between Budapest and Balatonszentgyörgy. That is completely unsustainable!