All Six Upgraded Metro Cars Withdrawn From Service

  • 26 Jun 2017 10:34 AM
All Six Upgraded Metro Cars Withdrawn From Service
The National Transport Authority on Friday withdrew from service with immediate effect six upgraded metro carriages after one broke down at Nyugati railway station. Its doors did not open and the passengers took great pains to free themselves while the metro driver said amid profuse apologies that the remote-control system did not work.

BKV said it will announce a Ft 800 million severance pay claim against Metrovagonmash, the Russian manufacturer of the carriages which upgraded them. Managing director Tibor Bolla said the company will not send more used metro carriages until their condition improves radically as the extent of their malfunctions could jeopardise scheduled passenger traffic.

Budapest city councillor Antal Csárdi said the agreement with the Russian manufacturer should be cancelled with immediate effect after the metro chaos on Friday.

“City Hall spent Ft 66 billion on this upgrade. We said at the time that new carriages could have been bought for that kind of money after examining European metro procurement projects; there were possibilities for purchasing modern, well-equipped carriages with safety functions and guarantees,” Csárdi said.

Source: Hungary Around the Clock

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