After significant delays last week, Hungarian State Railways is preparing intensively for the weekend
Reviewed, strengthened, reorganised – this is how we are preparing for the upcoming weekend, Hungarian State Railways (MÁV) CEO Zsolt Hegyi wrote in a Facebook post.
Hegyi said technical issues can occur everywhere, but they will do what they can to prevent them. Therefore, they will increase the number of replacement buses deployable on the busiest railway lines. Furthermore, higher-capacity double-deckers will commute on the Northern shores of Lake Balaton from Budapest. Hegyi asked all passengers to buy their tickets in advance because that is how they can transfer capacities where the need is the greatest. Group trips should also be announced at least one week earlier for the same reasons.
MÁV issues around 55,000 refunds for delays
State-owned passenger transport company Hungarian State Railways (MÁV Group) has issued around 55,000 refunds since the launch of a compensation system for delays on June 1, the group’s CEO said in an interview with VG.hu.
Zsolt Hegyi said about 45,000 passengers had been refunded half of their fare and 10,000 had received a full refund. The refunds added up to HUF 36 million, he added.
Under the system, passengers travelling with a single ticket who arrive more than 20 minutes late are entitled to a 50pc refund, while passengers with passes get a 10pc discount off their next purchase of a pass if they arrive more than 20 minutes late on five occasions during the month.
About 10,000 passengers were promised a full refund after delays caused by crossing failures on the line that runs between Budapest and Lake Balaton on Saturday.
Siemens to inspect all level crossing barriers
Siemens will undertake an inspection of all of the level crossing barriers it has delivered to Hungary, the CEO of state-owned passenger transport company MAV Group said in a post on social media on Thursday. Zsolt Hegyi said Siemens’ local management had pledged at a meeting on Thursday to inspect all of the barriers by the middle of the coming week. The meeting followed the failure of two barriers along the Budapest-Székesfehérvár line on Saturday that delayed almost 10,000 holiday-goers headed to Lake Balaton.
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