Hungary’s MÁV group to undergo major restructuring

The state-owned MÁV group will undergo a restructuring from the start of next year, the state secretary for transportation said at an event organised by the Engineers and Technicians Union on Monday.

MÁV group’s restructuring

Bálint Nagy said MÁV group would be separated into a track operator, called MÁV Pályaműködtetési Zrt, while MÁV, Volánbusz and MÁV-HÉV, which provide passenger rail, bus and suburban rail services, would be merged into a passenger unit, dubbed MÁV Szemályszállítási Zrt. Another business, MÁV Szolgáltatóközpont Zrt, will manage services for MÁV, he added.

Nagy said rail and bus service would not compete against each other, but cooperate to serve passengers.

He said around half of the track used for passenger trains had speed limits because of technical problems, adding that funding from Brussels that could be used to remedy the situation was being “held back for political reasons”. For that reason, he said Hungary would use its own resources and credit, adding that there were plans to take out a EUR 1bn loan for railway developments from the European Investment Bank (EIB).

He said the renovation of 100 trains had already started, half of them InterCity trains. Those trains will be put back on the track by the end of 2025, at the latest, he added.

He augured an increase in passenger numbers with changes to ticket and pass prices as well as discounts. Sales of the recently introduced county and country passes now exceed 13 million, he added.

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