Budapest, 17 June 2021 – Phase II of the Budapest tram and trolleybus project closed on a ceremonial event held on 17 June (Thursday) in the Budafok tram depot. In the framework of the project, 26 (five long and 21 short) new accessible CAF trams were put into service in 2020 and 2021 in Budapest. In phase I (in the period of 2015 and 2016), a total of 47 Spanish-made models arrived in the Hungarian capital.
„A total of 17 long and 56 short, state-of-the-art CAF trams are in service in Budapest. The new vehicles are well-adjusted in Budapest’s long-term strategy, whose core is the environmental and climate protection, sustainable energy management and the decrease of our ecological footprint”, stated the CEO of BKK Centre for Budapest Transport. Dr. Katalin Walter, BKK’s CEO added: „BKK is committed to renewing the vehicle fleet in the Hungarian capital. In case funds are available, further new vehicles could be procured.”
The agreement mutually signed by BKK and the Spanish enterprise producing the CAF trams enables to partially or completely call the 51 CAF trams still under option for another one year, until 17 May 2022. Kata Tüttő, Deputy Mayor for Urban Development called the invited persons’ attention to the following: „Both EU funds and reimbursable grants by the European Investment Bank can be used for the acquisition of new vehicles, however the approval of the Hungarian government is necessary for both cases, which the Municipality of Budapest has not received, despite the fact that the condition of the tram fleet requires the earliest possible intervention.”
Tibor Bolla, CEO of BKV Zrt. (Budapest Transport Privately Held Corporation) emphasised: „CAF trams enhance the comfort of Budapest’s residents by their features, such as accessibility, spacious passenger area, air conditioning and on-board cameras meeting expectations of the 21st century.”
The development of public transport and relating infrastructure continues to be a priority also in 2021. The significant development of vehicle fleet begun in recent years has greatly improved the level of Budapest’s public transport services. In addition to tram lines 3, 17 and 19, the state-of-the-art trams will be running also on tram lines 42 and 69 at weekends during low-traffic periods.
Phase II of the Budapest tram and trolleybus project (IKOP-3.1.0-15-2017-00013) is the key transport development investment of the Municipality of Budapest along with BKK Centre for Budapest Transport. The European Union allocates HUF 17.6 billion out of the Cohesion Fund in the framework of the Integrated Transport Development Operational Program for the realisation of the entire project. The total amount of the Grant Contract altogether with the financial contribution of the Municipality of Budapest is net HUF 17,699,115,044.
BKK Centre for Budapest Transport
