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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