The development of passenger rail services in Hungary has reached a new milestone: the first FLIRT multiple units procured jointly by MÁV-START and GYSEV Ltd’s were put into use in Budapest on 15 October, 2014. The four vehicles of MÁV-START are to carry passengers from 16 October and the three multiple units of GYSEV will be put into traffic in the coming three weeks. The fleet is to gradually grow in the months to come and will be complete by the end of 2015.
The fleets of MÁV-START and GYSEV (Győr-Sopron-Ebenfurt Railway Company) Ltd’s are to be enlarged within the framework of an open joint public procurement procedure co-financed from the EU Cohesion Fund. The Swiss Stadler Bussnang AG is to deliver 42 FLIRT vehicles to the Hungarian national railway company and 6 to its partner GYSEV.
The standard of Hungarian railway public service is to significantly rise hereby, as has been proven in the past few years by MÁV-START’s 60 multiple units and GYSEV’s FLIRT vehicles. In addition to their outstanding reliability, these up-to-date vehicles have run several tens of thousand kilometres already, saving for MÁV-START alone electricity worth some HUF 7 billion. Passengers are also satisfied: their number has risen by 6-12% along the railway lines concerned.
“By the end of 2015, Hungary will have the biggest FLIRT fleet operating in the world. The standard of suburban public transport has improved a great deal in the past few months thanks also to the fact that 150 new agglomeration coaches have been put into use as well. So as to continue improving the competitiveness of the railways, the Development Ministry plans further multiple unit procurement in the EU period starting this year”, Minister of State for Transport Policy László Tasó emphasised.
“The energy saving FLIRT’s with an ultimate speed of 160 km/h, low-floor design, accessibility for passengers with reduced mobility, up-to-date passenger information system and wifi internet service absolutely meet the requirements of suburban railway transport in the 21st century, President-CEO of MÁV Ltd. Ilona Dávid said in her address.
“In the suburbs of Budapest, the great majority of the vehicles can now become up-to-date train engines, which means that we shall be able to provide modern vehicles for about one quarter of train trips, i.e. some 34 million, every year”, CEO of MÁV-START Ltd. György Zaránd pointed out. Thanks to the FLIRT’s, some of the good quality trains currently used in suburban transport can be reallocated to other parts of the country, he added.
“The vehicles to arrive now may carry passengers not only along the Sopron–Szombathely–Szentgotthárd railway line but on the extremely busy Győr–Sopron line as well. As a huge advance, after the currently ongoing electrification of the Szombathely–Csorna section, FLIRT’s may start operating there, too, from February next year” CEO of GYSEV Ltd. Szilárd Kövesdi said at the ceremony.
Eight of MÁV-START’s new FLIRT trains are to replace the currently used locomotive-driven trains in Budapest suburban transport along the Pusztaszabolcs and Székesfehérvár lines. 19 new FLIRT’s will be used along the Budapest–Veresegyház–Vác line and 12 along the Esztergom line once the rail track refurbishment and electrification are completed. Some of the multiple units may be used to/from Monor and along the Budapest–Vác–Szob line outside peak hours.
The new trains have been painted blue-yellow-grey, reflecting the colours of the railway company. People travelling to/from Debrecen, Nyíregyháza, Füzesabony, Miskolc, Szentes, Kunszentmiklós and Lajosmizse can also welcome the development since the vehicles to be replaced by the multiple units are to carry passengers along those lines in future.
(Ministry of National Development Communications Department)
