Tarlós proposed to the government to use funds from the EU to cover 85% of the costs, around 149 billion forints, with the government and Budapest paying the rest jointly.

The government has already allocated 5 billion forints for unforeseen costs, and has an agreement to the value of 5.6 billion forints to make the entire line accessible by wheelchair, he said.

Answering a question, Tarlós said that AC machines cannot be mounted on the already revamped metro carriages for “structural reasons”.

The Budapest transport authority is working on installing fans, he said. Regarding the reconstruction works of Budapest’s Chain Bridge and the Castle Hill tunnel, Tarlós said that the government “has given positive feedback” on funding the extra 6 billion forints’ cost that would allow the two protects to be conducted simultaneously.

MTI Photo