Electronic ticketing system in Budapest delayed and getting more expensive

BKK (Center of Budapest Transport) is trying to introduce the most modern electronic ticketing system of the world. The change is urgent, as Budapest has the most outdated ticketing system in the EU.

According to 444.hu, the capital’s representatives could manage to contract with German enterprise Scheidt and Bachmann in 2015. Budapest took up a loan from the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). But with the funds came the conditions, so the procurement was carried out in their not too transparent process.

EBRD does not prefer local companies, moreover, they announced a company quite inexperienced in this field as the winner of the competition. Another unfortunate circumstance is that the project is expensive even compared to international standards.

According to BKK’s current management, the project was not prepared appropriately, as the complicated systems’ integration was not taken into account. Meanwhile, the data protection law and the government’s e-ticket concept were also changed. The former leadership stated that the project was managed badly, there were no proper experts attached to it. Whichever version is true, the German company will receive another 10.4 million euros from the congress despite the critical amount of delay.

Of the 55.3 million euros of the EBRD loan 10.4 million was a reserve, and most of the 15 million from Budapest still remained. The company separated approximately 7.1 million euros for the improvement, and intends to spend another 33 million for engineering in the following years.

There were a lot of circumstances that made the project difficult. First, HÉV rakes were transferred to MÁV. Then the outer city bus services were taken by the Ministry of National Development from the municipal. Due to these changes, BKK had to debate with multiple partners. The delays in the reconstruction of Metro 3 also cause further difficulties.