Metro line 3 upgrade

Budapest transport, ministry sign metro 3 renovation contract

Budapest, May 5 (MTI) – The renovation of Budapest’s metro 3 under a contract signed on Thursday is scheduled to receive 120 billion forints in European Union funding and 20 billion from the central budget, a government official said.

The contract was signed by Budapest transport company BKV chairman-CEO Tibor Bolla and National Development Ministry deputy state secretary Florián Szalóki.

Last week the local council of Budapest approved the contract on the state guaranteeing the full 140 billion forints even if EU funding for the project fails to materialise.

The renovation will start in November and is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2019. Rails, security equipment and control centres will be replaced while escalators will be renovated and stations expanded as part of the project.

The first section of the line was opened in 1976 and it reached its current length of 17.3km in 1990.

Photo: MTI

Major revamp project on the M3 metro line

Reconstruction work on metro line M3 could begin between Lehel tér and Újpest-Központ stops as well as on the Kőbánya-Kispest and Nagyvárad tér section in November. Mno.hu reports on the proposal submitted to the General Assembly of Budapest.

The work will be divided into three parts, but procurement procedures are happening at the same time, so work on the middle section of the line can start simultaneously as well. During the construction of the northern and southern sections metros will run on a shortened schedule on the middle section, between 4:30am and 8pm. The construction work will be done at night and on the weekends, and the section will be out of service completely only after the other two parts are completed.

While the line is under construction, replacement buses will operate instead. Ideally, work will start in November, and the line will be back in service in June 2019, and completed in September 2019. The project costs approximately HUF 137.5 billion (EUR 443 million).

According to the document, the main objective of the reconstruction project is to improve current conditions and to make sure that the trains operate safely at 80 km/h. The safety mechanism and the Automatic Train Operation System (AVR) still meet transport and technological requirements. The replacement of the necessary mechanical elements and the renovation of track circuits and signs are supposed to ensure reliable operation for the next 20-25 years.

The stations and the surface infrastructure will be renovated as well. Lifts will be installed at the Újpest-Központ, Gyöngyösi utca, Forgách utca, Lehel tér, Nyugati pályaudvar, Deák Ferenc tér, Corvin-negyed, Nagyvárad tér, Néplight and Határ út stops, and new escalators will operate at Újpest-városkapu, Gyöngyösi utca, Dózsa György út, Lehel tér, Nagyvárad tér and Ecseri út.

The 17.3 km long M3 metro line has 20 stops, and it transports more than 500,000 passengers a day.

Photo: Daily News Hungary

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3 and a half year chaos in Budapest, but Metro 3 may be ready for the municipal elections

The capital would like everything to remain the same after the transfer of the agglomeration lines: the passes should not cost more and the timetable should remain as well. The negotiations are in progress, but not too fast, nol.hu reported.

Budapest Mayor István Tarlós said the negotiations on the agglomeration lines – which will be transferred to the state – are moving in the right direction with Development Minister Miklós Seszták. Tarlós added that he felt some artificial deceleration in the case. Despite of this, he is confident that, at least, the basic agreement can be signed for the next meeting of the Budapest Assembly on February 17. The mayor wants to achieve that neither the local governments, nor the Budapest residents have to pay more after the transfer; and that the buses and suburban trains stop at all the stops.

If they cannot agree on this, then István Tarlós will present his ideas. For example coaches and MÁV (Hungarian State Railways) should pay a fee, or the people from the countryside should pay a separate congestion charge. The Mayor also would like to encash the 9 billion-forint loss coming from the free travel of people over 65.

According to the official schedule, the renewed Metro 3 line would be handed over on September 30, 2019 (ie just before the municipal elections). The major assumes that the EU approves the application for aid, or, in the other case, the state should help, because the restoration cannot be postponed any longer. If the restoration of the metro line cannot be completed in this cycle it would have to be stopped before 2019.

According to nol.hu, in connection with the dismemberment of the Budapest Transport Center (BKK), Tarlós noted that, besides traffic management, developments also will belong to the company. However, the downsizing is inevitable in the 2000-people company.

The Csepel suburban railway does not cease, only transforms. The main reason of it is the lack of proper travel links and also that Csepel’s is currently cut in half. By integrating the line into the electrical grid these drawbacks could disappear.

Tarlós identified the development of the Budapest and the agglomeration shipping as an important goal, and this is supported by the government as well. It would serve not only touristic but transport goals too. Most of the development would be financed by the state, nol.hu wrote.

Waste management was also addressed, as the only non-traffic topic. The regulation would allow only 60-80-liter bins to collect residential garbage, but it would make refuse collection more expensive. István Tarlós asked the Minister for the opportunity of the capital to get involved in the implementing of the regulation.

Copy editor: bm