The metropolitan council will ensure the wheelchair accessibility of Budapest’s third metro line, which is in the course of being refurbished, by fixing “cabin structures” onto the escalators in the metro stations where the use of elevators is not an option, Budapest Mayor István Tarlós said on Tuesday.
Speaking to commercial broadcaster InfoRádió, Tarlós said similar structures are in use in cities like Berlin, Dublin, London, Naples and Paris. The mayor stressed that the structures would be safe to use.
He said the cabins could be installed at 20-25 percent of the cost of elevators. There are seven companies that manufacture such systems in Europe, Tarlós added.
The metropolitan council is considering installing such cabin structures at five stations, he said.
Tarlós repeated his position that the plebiscite was pointless, arguing that even if it were successful, it would not oblige the metropolitan council to build an elevator at every station.
The Kúria, Hungary’s supreme court, has upheld the Budapest Election Committee’s (FVB) decision to allow a referendum to go ahead on wheelchair accessibility to metro line 3, which is in the course of being refurbished.
In the legally binding ruling, the Kuria wrote on its website on Tuesday that
the referendum question lived up to the requirement for legal clarity and comprehensibility by the electorate.
Socialist Budapest Assembly member Csaba Horváth submitted the referendum bid in December. The question reads: “Do you support ensuring the full accessibility of all stations of the M3 metro line during its upgrade in 2017-2020 according to the provisions prescribed in Section 2 (1) of Act LXXVIII of 1997?”
Back then, Budapest deputy mayor Gábor Bagdy said in a statement that Horváth had submitted a “hastily-worded” referendum question, arguing that the upgrade of the metro line was in line with the provisions prescribed by law. Therefore the objective of the question he had submitted could be carried out even without a referendum, the deputy mayor said.
Ruling Fidesz reacted by saying that the opposition’s referendum initiative “has no credibility whatsoever”.
The mayor of Budapest reacted as well in December, stressing that he was not blocking a referendum, because Act LXXVIII of 1997 on the Formation and Protection of the Built Environment does not specify that elevators need to be built in order to ensure accessibility. Even if the referendum is valid and successful, it would still not mandate the construction of elevators, the mayor said. There is more than one technical solution for carrying out the metro upgrade so that it is in line with the 1998 law on equality and the rights of people with disabilities, he added.
Szeretlek Magyarország draws attention to the recently published design plans for the M3 metro stations that are to be finished next year. These spaces will be minimalistic, simplistic and to the point.
The design plans for the northern stations of metro line 3 are finished and were recently published on the project site. According to the official statement,
The main aim of the reconstruction is to renew and refresh the passenger areas from a technical and aesthetic view. It is also important to create a consistent image that is characteristic of the whole line, all the while giving each station a unique vibe.
Dózsa György station
These passenger areas will await you after the constructions are done. You can expect changes not only regarding the interior design and the image, but also regarding the names, as several stations will be renamed, for example, Újpest-Városkapu will be Újpest vasútállomás, and Árpád-híd will be Göncz Árpád városközpont.
Forgách utca station
The reconstruction of metro line M3 is done in three phases, divided in the following way:
phase 1, north: between the stations Újpest-Központ and Lehel tér, phase 2, middle: between Lehel tér and Nagyvárad tér, phase 3, south: between Nagyvárad tér and Kőbánya-Kispest.
After the three sections are renovated, the Lehel tér and Nagyvárad tér stations will be revamped.
Göncz Árpád station
The renovation began on the 6th of November 2017, between the stations Újpest-Központ and Lehel tér. The line between the two stations is completely shut down, while operation on the rest of the line is limited.
The referendum question submitted by the opposition in connection with ensuring accessibility of metro line 3 is “imprecise and pointless”, Budapest Mayor István Tarlós said on Thursday.
Earlier this month, the Budapest Election Committee approved a referendum question submitted by Socialist city councillor Csaba Horváth on ensuring wheelchair accessibility of stations on Budapest’s third metro line during its upgrade phase.
The referendum question refers to a law enacted in 1997 which was also in force in 2007, when the upgrade of the second metro line was completed, Tarlós told public news channel M1. This referendum was initiated by a politician who was part of the municipal council leadership at that time when only a single elevator was built on the second metro line and only a single station was made fully accessible, Tarlós said, referring to Horváth and the previous city leadership.
Metro line 3 “is in terrible condition” and for decades nobody did anything about it, the mayor said.
Even the city council could not do anything about it until 2015 when the government took over the debt that had been accumulated by Budapest transport company BKV up until 2010, he added.
This issue is not about a lack of intent from the city council’s part, Tarlós insisted, adding that the Budapest leadership had “fought for a long time” for the metro upgrade and the project costs a lot of money.
The mayor said he and the city council leadership will look into whether an elevator could be built at the Dózsa György Road station, which would cost close to 1 billion forints (EUR 3.2m).
On Wednesday, Horváth announced that nine opposition parties had joined forces to launch a signature drive for holding a local referendum on ensuring the accessibility of metro line 3.
Horváth’s referendum question reads: “Do you support ensuring the full accessibility of all stations of the M3 metro line during its upgrade in 2017-2020 in line with the provisions prescribed in Section 2 (1) of Act LXXVIII of 1997?”
Tarlós stressed that he was not blocking a referendum, because Act LXXVIII of 1997 on the Formation and Protection of the Built Environment does not specify that elevators need to be built in order to ensure accessibility. Even if the referendum is valid and successful, it would still not mandate the construction of elevators, the mayor said. There is more than one technical solution for carrying out the metro upgrade so that it is in line with the 1998 law on equality and the rights of people with disabilities, he added.
Nine opposition parties have joined forces to launch a signature drive for holding a local referendum on ensuring the wheelchair accessibility of stations on Budapest’s third metro line, a Socialist Party city councillor said on Wednesday.
Csaba Horváth, who initiated a local referendum on ensuring the accessibility of metro line 3 in mid-November, noted that the parties involved in the signature drive will have 30 days to collect 138,000 valid signatures from Budapest residents. He said the signature drive for the referendum, which the Budapest Election Committee approved earlier this month, could begin on Jan. 3 once all time limits for appeals have expired.
Horváth said the total cost of ensuring the metro line’s accessibility could be around 20 billion forints (EUR 63.8m), which he said was the equivalent of what Budapest residents pay in taxes in a single day.
The opposition Democratic Coalition, the Liberal Party, LMP, the Modern Hungary Movement, Párbeszéd, Együtt, Momentum and the Hungarian Solidarity Movement will join the Socialists in the signature drive.
Horváth’s referendum question reads: “Do you support ensuring the full accessibility of all stations of the M3 metro line during its upgrade in 2017-2020 in line with the provisions prescribed in Section 2 (1) of Act LXXVIII of 1997?”
Budapest deputy mayor Gábor Bagdy said in a statement that the Budapest municipal council was not blocking a referendum on the matter. Ensuring accessibility on the metro line is not a matter of empathy or intent, but rather a question of money, the deputy mayor said.
Bagdy said Horváth had submitted a “hastily-worded” referendum question, arguing that the upgrade of the metro line was in line with the provisions prescribed by law. Therefore the objective of the question he had submitted could be carried out even without a referendum, the deputy mayor said.
Ruling Fidesz reacted by saying that the opposition’s referendum initiative “has no credibility whatsoever”, arguing that
the capital’s former Socialist and liberal leadership had “allowed the third metro line to rot away during their tenure in power”.
“Csaba Horváth and company did not even lift a finger to ensure the safety of Budapest residents on public transportation back then,” Fidesz said in a statement. “Not only did they fail to consider accessibility, but the entire third metro line could have broken down for all they cared.”
The renovation of M3 would be the perfect opportunity to make the metro accessible. However, it is not happening. A protest was organised at Ferenciek tere metro station on 20 November to make M3 accessible, Femina.hu reports. Protesters wanted to raise awareness to the importance of accessibility.
The renovation of metro line 3 started two weeks ago. Unfortunately, (unbelievably perhaps) the extensive renovation does not include the accessibility of the metro’s stations. Thus, making the lives of many disabled people even more difficult than it already is. Not to mention that accessibility is important not just for people with physical disabilities, but for parents with strollers or for people travelling with their dogs as well.
The renovation of the metro line would be the perfect opportunity to make the stations accessible. However, it is clearly not happening.
Not making the metro stops accessible is a huge problem. A civil union was formed in order to solve this problem. The collaboration is called the Teljes Értékű Metrót Akció (Fully Accessible Metro) which is an awareness raising civil initiative.
The awareness raising initiative organised a protest at Ferenciek tere station on 20 November. Their aim was to remind the “decision makers” that the current situation is unacceptable. Hvg.hu interviewed people at the protest. Many people wanted their voices to be heard.
“It is really sad that in the 21st century, accessibility is almost a taboo word in Hungary. Everything should be accessible.”
According to the statistics, 5% of the Hungarian population is disabled, many of them are in wheelchairs. Since metro line 3 has only one accessible station (Kőbánya-Kispest), disabled people cannot use M3 at all.
“This situation is outrageous. We will not let them do this.”
A disabled man at the protest said:
“They said that they will not make the stations accessible because disabled people do not use M3. Of course we do not use M3 because we cannot use the stairs!”
People at the protest mentioned that a possible reason for not making the stations accessible could be that its costs would not be rewarding for the city administrations. This is not a really valid claim, since metro line 4 is completely accessible and a lot of disabled people use it every day.
One of the organisers of the protest, Dániel Csángó said:
“We just want to be able to use public transport. We want to be seen as equal citizens.”
If something is not done now, disabled people probably will not be able to use M3 for 30+ years, thus, making life even more difficult for them. It is important to mention that accessibility would be helpful not only to the physically disabled, but to the elderly, to parents carrying strollers all day long or to people travelling with their dogs.
The development ministry will submit a bid for funding for Budapest’s third metro line to the European Commission before the end of November, the ministry told business daily Világgazdaság.
The construction project is planned to receive 137.5 billion forints (EUR 440m) European Union financing
but it is uncertain when the decision will be made in Brussels, the paper said on Tuesday.
Green opposition LMP says Budapest city leaders’ “poor management” of replacement bus service during the renovation of the third metro line could cause a “total collapse” of the capital’s public transport network.
Gergely Pongrácz, the head of LMP’s Budapest chapter, told a press conference on Sunday that the city leaders had made a “professional error” by limiting the metro replacement service to buses. He said it was also a mistake to start the renovation along the metro line’s northern section, arguing that had the capital chosen to start with the middle or the southern sections, a significant portion of the metro line’s capacity could have been offloaded to tram 14 by extending that line to Deák Ferenc Square.
Budapest Mayor István Tarlós has said that the replacement buses can manage 60-70 percent of the metro line’s peak capacity, while 20 percent can be taken over by the tram network and the rest by alternative routes.
Pongrácz said the third metro line would fail to meet modern standards even after the renovation is completed, noting that it would still lack full accessibility for the dithe replacement buses can manage 60-70 percent of the metro line’s peak capacitysabled.
He added that a metro line in Vienna was being upgraded at a cost of 100 billion forints (EUR 321.6m), less than the cost of the metro line 3 renovation.
Six stations on the northern section of metro line 3 in Budapest are to be closed down on Monday for an approximately year-long reconstruction, Mayor István Tarlós told a press conference on Thursday.
The line is being closed down from Lehel tér to the northern terminus Újpest Központ, he said.
Tunnel reconstruction on the whole line is to start simultaneously, and is expected to last until late 2020, he said.
During the reconstruction period, metro line 3, stretching north-south on the Pest side and serving about 600,000 commuters daily,
is to operate between the southern end station of Kőbánya-Kispest and Lehel tér on weekdays. On weekends and during the night, the trains are to be replaced by buses.
Speaking at a separate press briefing, Socialist councillor Csaba Horváth said that the replacement buses are only enough to transport two thirds of the metro line’s passengers. If the capacity is to drop by a third, the city should cut the prices of passes by a third, too, he said.
Horváth blamed the municipality for a lack of drivers and vehicles which he said proves that the mayor and his colleagues are incapable of properly managing the project, he said.
The Socialist councillor also slammed the reconstruction plans, saying it was “only a bigger cleanup and rustproofing”, and failed to tackle the most run-down sections.
Inforadio.hu reports that the long-delayed renovation of Metro 3 is going to start from 6 November with the northern stretch of the railway line. Although during the renovation, the Budapest Transport Company Zrt. (BKV) provides replacement buses along the length of the line, according to previous estimations, only 60-70% of the passengers can be transported by them.
Tibor Bolla, the Director-General of the Budapest Transport Company Zrt. (BKV) revealed that due to the renovation and the fact that
the 60-year-old articulated buses can only transport maximum 60-70% of the passengers,
they are going to strengthen tram lines 12 and 14 that are going to operate more regularly with more carriages to provide alternatives for the passengers.
Metro Line 3 /Daily News Hungary/Future M3 carriages /Daily News Hungary/Replacement buses in circulation /commons.wiki.org by Kemenymate/
Tibor Bolla also announced the types of work that can be expected along the northern stretch of the line. He stressed that György Dózsa station will be the last one to renovate. Furthermore, the contract for the renovation of the tunnel affects its total length from Újpest station to Kőbánya. Thus, the railway line until Lehel station is going to be closed where the infrastructure is going to be renewed. Then, it will be followed by the reconstruction of the middle and the southern stretch of the line.
But what are its consequences on the general road traffic?
The Director-General admitted that, unfortunately, the 3 lanes available to cars on Váci Street are going to be reduced to 2 lanes from the beginning of November. Buses will operate in bus lanes where it is possible, and these lanes will help public transportation to Kőbánya at weekends and at nights.
Furthermore, in the 1st phase, police officers will also participate in traffic controlling and the traffic lights will favour the buses and help the transportation of the trams 12 and 14.
Another important thing to consider is that along with the renovation of Metro Line 3, there is also a need for the renewal of the carriages used along Metro Line 1. Based on Hungarian plans, new carriages of the Small Subway (officially: Millennium Underground Railway) are going to be constructed.
Metro Line 1 (Small Subway) /Daily News Hungary/Daily News Hungary
Because of the uniqueness of the Small Subway, the carriages are not produced in series. Consequently, production lines need to be created in the Hungarian industry. To begin with, they will produce 2 prototypes that are later tested in circulation and hopefully, the winner of the plans also intends to contruct the new carriages. Tibor Bolla admitted that the conditions of the carriages make it necessary to change them without delay within the following 5 years.
Further plans for the future
Besides the renovations, the Budapest Transport Company Zrt. (BKV) wants to purchase more buses and trams from its budget. They are planning to purchase 30 Hungarian-produced articulated buses in the 1st quarter of the next year. They also continue the renovation of the Great Boulevard and the tramway lines.
The Center for Budapest Transport (BKK) intends to use more CAF trams, so the means of public transportation in Budapest are going to be expanded with these Spanish vehicles, too.
During that time the metro will function between Kőbanya-Kispest and Lehel Square, with replacement buses operating along the northern secion, Tarlós told a press conference.
All necessary traffic changes, including the routes of the replacement buses have been worked out, the mayor said.
On another subject, Tarlós said Budapest transport company BKV upholds its demand for the manufacturer of trains for the third metro line to pay a fine of 2.5 billion forints (EUR 8.2m) or higher for delivering reconditioned trains in an unacceptable condition. The mayor said a part of the fine could be spent on installing air conditioning on the metro trains or making more stations along the line wheelchair accessible.
He said there are currently 13 renovated metro trains in Hungary, 11 of which have been approved for service use.
On the subject of plans to build a mobile flood levee on the Római embankment in northern Budapest, Tarlós said the levee’s designer maintains its responsibility for the project’s technical suitability.
Commenting on the mayor’s press briefing, Socialist councillor Csaba Horváth said that Tarlós did not represent the interests of Budapest’s citizens either on issues around the metro upgrade or on the Római levee.
The reconstruction of metro line 3 could be financed “from the taxes Budapest citizens pay in a span of ten days”, Horváth insisted. In the last seven years, Tarlós has been unable to obtain even this much support from the government, he said. Horváth added that if Tarlós wanted to construct the Romai levee citing majority support, a local referendum would be the best means to secure it.
LMP lawmaker Antal Csárdi said that a study by green NGO Vedegylet has shown that a levee built immediately on the Romai embankment would enhance safety risks in the area.
On the issue of metro line 3, Csárdi said that Tarlós’s assertions today contradicted the municipal council leadership’s earlier claims, citing city leaders as having said earlier that turning the whole line wheelchair accessible and installing air conditioning in revamped metro cars was impossible for technical reasons.
The Budapest assembly should call a local referendum on the location of the levee on the north Danube embankment, Csaba Horváth, a Socialist representative in the assembly told the press on Wednesday ahead of an assembly meeting.
Horváth called Budapest Mayor a “coward” for refusing to hear the opinion of locals.
Opposition parties and civil groups have long campaigned against plans to build a mobile flood levee on the Római embankment, which environmentalists say would harm the local ecology.
Erzsébet Gy. Németh of the Democratic Coalition (DK) said supporters of the project “will have to face the consequences if a tragedy occurs”. She cited reports that the company planning the mobile levee had already “failed” in a similar project for a levee at Visegrád, north of Budapest. Gy. Németh called on Tarlós to renegotiate the tenders.
Horváth also called on Tarlós to ensure the full reconstruction and wheelchair accessibility of metro line 3, and to sack transport company chief Kálmán Dabóczi for his “incompetent” introduction of e-tickets.
Socialist representative Sándor Szaniszló noted that Budapest has around 900 burst pipes every year. Around 350km of water pipes need urgent renovation, he said, but the water management company lacked funds due to government cost-cutting, he said.
Reconstruction work on Budapest metro line 3 is “very likely” to start by October 31, Budapest Mayor István Tarlós told a press conference on Friday.
Budapest transport company BKV plans to conclude contracts for the reconstruction of the six northern stations and of the tunnel on September 4, Tarlós said. New public procurement tenders would be necessary for the reconstruction of the other 14 stations, he said, as the previous offers contained unfounded figures and were therefore unacceptable.
Answering a question on the case of the “ethical hacker” who demonstrated a security vulnerability in the Budapest transport authority’s (BKK) e-ticket system, Tarlós said “the young man and his hacking” is not the main issue. The mayor said “several” denial of service attacks had been levelled at the transport company’s system which constitute a “serious crime where good faith is out of the question”.
The Liberal Party has called on István Tarlós, the mayor of Budapest, to sack the chief of the capital city’s transport authority (BKK), a party official said on Tuesday.
Viktor Szabadai, the party’s Budapest leader, told a press conference that the latest mishap to affect the aging Soviet-built metro 3 line, occurring at the Árpád Bridge station, showed that BKK chief Kálmán Daboczi was unfit for his post.
He called it “scandalous” that after a heavy rain on Saturday, the station was flooded and tracks were inundated up until Sunday morning’s opening of service.
Heavy rain leading to flooding of the track which incorporates a third rail to provide electric power “posed a danger, even if passengers were not allowed to enter the station at the time,” he said.
He demanded to know who was responsible for the weekend mishap, and referring to renovation work taking place at the station in question, requested information about which company was carrying out the work and whether it had also been assigned to other upgrade projects in Budapest. Szabadai also said he wanted to know whether it was true that BKK had indicated on several occasions that the company carrying out the renovation work was not doing a proper job and had sought damages.
The 24.1 billion forints (EUR 80m) contract for the initial work is planned to be signed by the beginning of September.
Strabag Építőipari Zrt has won the public procurement competition to renovate the northern section of the line which encompasses six stations.
A new competition is to be launched for the contract to renew the central and southern sections.
During the work on the northern section, the metro will function between Kőbánya-Kispest and Lehel Square, the Budapest transport authority BKK told the paper.
In the meantime, the replacement buses are being stocked and traffic changes are prepared for their implementation, the paper said.
The mayor of Budapest has promised that work on renovating the city’s third metro line would start in September yet there are no signs if this happening, a Liberal politician said on Friday.
Viktor Szabadai, the party’s Budapest leader, called on the metropolitan council to state exactly when work would begin.
He told a press conference that the city currently did not have enough replacement buses or drivers for the line which serves more than half a million commuters, and he called on the council to clarify “where they intend to get the vehicles and drivers from”.
On June, Budapest transport company BKV has demanded that the manufacturer of trains for the third metro line, Metrovagonmas, pay a fine of 800 million forints (EUR 2.6m) for delivering reconditioned trains in an unacceptable condition.
The Liberal politician also complained that trains lacked air conditioning and not all stations would be wheelchair-accessible.
As we wrote this Tuesday, while Budapest is busy renovating Metro Line 3 and constructing the new 5-kilometre-long tramway, a new tram- and metro line is being built in Warsaw, two new metro lines in Bucharest and a 20-kilometre-long tramway in Prague.
While Budapest is busy renovating Metro Line 3 and constructing the new 5-kilometre-long tramway, a new tram- and metro line is being built in Warsaw, two new metro lines in Bucharest and a 20-kilometre-long tramway in Prague, reports hvg.hu.
In the EU budgetary period between 2014 and 2020, Budapest spends most of its money on renovating metro line 3. Although a reconstruction was long needed, this process right now cannot be called development. The metro line is not being extended, accessibility is not worked on, and the trains are not new, they are only renovated.
Hvg.hu looked into what other cities do with EU and non-EU aid with their transport lines until the end of 2019. Prague, Warsaw and Bucharest have a lot of common traits with Budapest, so they examined these cities. Bucharest has about 70 kilometres of metro lines and 140 kilometres of tramlines. Prague has a little over 60 kilometres of metro and a bit over 140 kilometres of tram. Budapest has barely 40 kilometres of metro lines and a little over 140 kilometres of tram lines. Lastly, Warsaw has almost 30 kilometres of metro and 130 kilometres of tram lines.
We can conclude from the data that Prague’s and Bucharest’s metro line is much bigger than that of Budapest, but the Hungarian capital city still has the biggest tramline system out of all.
Budapest: 0 km new metro lines, 5 km new tram lines
Looking at development, Budapest is at the bottom of the list out of the four cities. The biggest sum is spent on renovating Metro line 3: over 450 million euros. Out of all the proposed projects, only the two-way extension of tramline 1 is underway. The extension between Vörösvári street and Aranyvölgy train station costs 34 million EUR, the one between Fehérvári street and Kelenföld 28 million EUR.
Tram 1 photo: Kemenymate / wikipedia
Prague: 0 km new metro lines, 20 km new tram lines
Prague is building five new tram lines, 20 kilometres altogether, from EU funding. These lines will reach two big residential areas, up to Bohnice at north, and Haje metro station at the southeast. Three lines will be built from EU funding on 16.5 kilometres, with 286 million euros used. The capital city is going to build two shorter lines using their own resources. These two lines will be 3.6 kilometres long altogether and will cost 39 million EUR.
Although Prague is not building a metro line, the plans are already drawn up for a 10.6 kilometres long new line. The building process starts in 2018 the soonest, but the source for the money is not established as of yet.
photo: ianto1983 / youtube
Bucharest: 11 km new metro lines, 0 km new tram lines
Bucharest builds the most new lines, with all of the city’s resources used for this purpose. Metro line 4 of Bucharest will be extended with 2 kilometres to the north up to Straulesti, using 164 million EUR by 2018. Metro line 5’s first section will be built on 9 kilometres from Râul Doamnei and Ialomiţei to Eorilor. This will cost 706 million EUR, with 410 EUR covered by the EU. Bucharest’s city leadership promises to finish the whole 19 kilometres of line 5 and building a new, 16 km long metro line to the airport (will cost 380 million EUR) by 2020. However, no new tramlines will be built.
photo: Railways Romania / youtube
Warsaw: 7 km new metro lines, 18 km new tram lines
Warsaw will build the most, though they have a lot of catching up to do. The first metro line here was opened in 1995, but they’ve come a long way since then. They will spend 703 million EUR on renovating the tram lines. These developments were long expected. The 10 km long tramline going out to Wilanow will be rebuilt, along with the new 4.5 km long line to Goclaw.
Metro line 2 was opened in 2015 in Warsaw, which will be extended with 7 km. Three new stations will be built both in the direction of east and west. The work will be finished by 2019 and will cost 516 million EUR.
Czech rails with Czech trams, Polish rails with Polish trams
Budapest is lagging behind from the point of view of acquiring new trains. Warsaw and Prague are first in this matter, where the trains are manufactured in the given countries. Although the Hungarian government has plans to revive the vehicle industry, these plans are far from becoming a reality.
While Hungary purchased 40 Combinos and 47 CAF trams in the past ten years, Warsaw bought 280 PESA trams manufacturers in Poland, and Prague bought 310 Czech Skoda trams. Warsaw plans to buy at least 123, but hopefully 213 new trams, although these will arrive only in 2019. Prague is expanding too: the rest of the Skoda trams are continuously put on the rails. Budapest has the chance to ask for further 77 CAF trams, but as of yet, nothing happened. Hvg.hu reports that it is in the plans to get more of these trams, but the exact numbers are unknown. However, there are rumours of 20-23 trams coming in.
As for the metro trains, we have 222 renovated Russian trains, and the expenses are covered with loans. These old Soviet trains are still running in Prague and Warsaw, and the ones in Warsaw are not even renovated, but they are 10-15 years younger than ours. 455 trains were renovated in Prague, double the amount than in Hungary, all done by Skoda.
Comparisons
It is clear that in this EU cycle, we are far behind the three other countries, concerning development. Prague builds four times the lines as Hungary does, Warsaw is much ahead of Budapest in both metro and tram concerns, and there are already two new lines built in Bucharest, although the trams are not developed there.
Budapest is lagging behind regarding the fleet of vehicles too. Outrunning Prague and Warsaw in the matter of low-floor trams is not happening soon, though Budapest stands better than Bucharest. Let’s not even mention the fact that the Czech and Polish capital buys the trams from their own manufacturers.
It seems that we’re closing the most well-funded EU cycle with spending most of the efforts on renovating metro line 3 and the Russian trains.
Speaking at a press conference, Tarlós said he would refrain from giving his opinion in the matter until both the external and internal investigations of the problems are concluded.
The mayor expressed, at the same time, his displeasure at the “German system administrator staying sneakily silent” on the issue.
BKK is not a producer or financier of the system in question; it merely placed an order for a service “for which it has not yet paid a single forint”, Tarlós said.
BKK head Kálmán Dabóczi
He added that, despite opposition calls, he has no plans to dismiss BKK head Kálmán Dabóczi until the matter is resolved in its entirety.
On another subject, Tarlós said Budapest transport company BKV upholds its demand for the manufacturer of trains for the third metro line, Russian Metrowagonmash, to pay a fine of 2 billion forints (EUR 6.5m) or higher for delivering reconditioned trains in an unacceptable condition.
He said the upgrade of the third metro line “is not going badly at all”, noting that after being pulled from service for inspections, six trains have already re-entered service while a seventh train arrived on Wednesday and will be back in service within the next few days.
The contract is for 222 trains to be reconditioned at a cost of almost 220 million euros.
