“The government has time until midnight on July 5 and if there is no decision made, then a smaller number of buses will be bought using our own funds, in line with the original plan”, Tarlós told commercial channel TV2. The Budapest transport company BKV will supplement the purchased stock with old buses, he said.

Around 150 articulated buses are needed to replace metro services. Budapest is preparing to start the renovation of the M3 metro line. In June, the local council decided to contract bus services along the line for the time of the renovation as favoured by the government, rather than buying buses, but only if the government covers the cost exceeding that of acquiring the necessary buses.

The local council said in early June that it expects the government to issue the terms for their support in the official gazette Magyar Közlöny by July 5. The local council also decided at the time that it will buy Polish-made Solaris buses if the government fails to take a decision on the matter.

“Playtime is over, the revamp of the M3 metro line must start”, Tarlós said. This has been overdue for 15 years, he added. He said he expected the project to be finished by the end of 2019. The revamp of the M3 line will cost about 140 billion forints (EUR 441.2m) and is scheduled to start in November.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.