Tram drivers drop out one by one – will Budapest stop running?
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The coronavirus in Hungary still rages on with worse and worse statistics every day. We have already reported about the dangers of this and what might happen if people who handle the essential social services will be infected in one of our previous articles. If enough people are infected in such areas, it could halt the working of Budapest and even lead to dangerous situations if it happens to people who are responsible for clean water or energy.
First, the continuous functioning of the metro line M2 has been in danger two weeks back when Deputy Mayor Kata Tüttő expressed her concern about the high infection rate among drivers. It is vital to protect metro drivers in Budapest because they are pretty valuable. Because there is no metro in any other city in Hungary, it is impossible to find a substitute if too many of them get infected. On March 10, the metro was two sick workers away from having to shut down.
This is not everything, however, as other sources were genuinely concerned about the possible consequences of other facilities shutting down. If a metro line shuts down, it is quite problematic, but it has been a general practice to substitute metro lines with buses if necessary. If workers of a water cleaning facility will be infected, who are also specialised workers, the difficulties in replacing them can have even more significant adverse effects. If energy plants would need to close, no one could do their jobs, and the entire capital would shut down.
In order to keep the capital running, Kata Tüttő urges that these 500 workers who have an essential role in keeping the city up and running should be considered crucial and be moved further up on the list of people to be vaccinated. She said about the threat previously.