Budapest metros are in serious trouble because of the war in Ukraine!
Budapest metro lines 2 and 4 are certainly in trouble, but even metro line 3 could be in serious trouble due to the lack of parts caused by the war in Ukraine.
Production was suspended
As borsonline.hu writes, the supply of spare parts for Alstom trains has become uncertain due to the war in Ukraine. Alstom trains run on the Budapest Red (M2) and Green (M4) lines, and their wheel disks were manufactured in Dnipro, Ukraine, until the Russian invasion. Now, the industrial centre is under constant attack and may no longer even exist as it may have been bombed. In any case,
production was suspended at the end of February.
The problem
According to VG.hu, the war in Ukraine has made the replacement of the wheels of metro lines 2 and 4 uncertain, which could ultimately affect the timetable. The background to the problem is that the treads of Alstom trains running on the lines wear out from time to time.
BKV will first turn the tyres, but when this is no longer possible, they will have to be replaced.
The necessary monoblock wheels are purchased from a supplier in the capital.
No bolts delivered since the end of February
According to the news site, however, the replacement of monoblock wheels could have much more serious consequences for metro lines 2 and 4 than the problems with the supply of parts for metro line 3. Since the start of the war, no bolts have been delivered to the blue metro (M3) trains, and it is not known whether the manufacturer is currently addressing the problem. According to BKK, however, this has not yet affected maintenance, but according to press reports, stocks will only last for a few months, as Népszava reported.
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Poor quality
As borsonline.hu writes, the 2020 independent expert report identified 18 serial defects on otherwise poor-quality Russian vehicles and concluded that
Russian vehicles are particularly high maintenance for new vehicles.
The faulty parts are taken from wagons that are not currently in use, thus mitigating possible schedule disruptions. The repair of the two trains damaged at Kőbánya-Kispest station would also have been partly carried out by the Russian company.
Source: borsonline.hu, vg.hu, nepszava.hu