Mayor Gergely Karácsony ceremoniously hands over the renovated subway line 3 today. According to the metro renovation project director, there were no slippages during the renovation, but since the city government is left-wing, the deadline for the handover of some stops has been postponed several times, and the campaign promises of the current mayor have not been fulfilled. The former mayor who founded the project, István Tarlós, who received so many sexist attacks from the left regarding the investment, will not be present at today's ceremony, but in a letter he congratulated his successor and the government that provided funds for the works on the completion of the renovation.
According to the 2015 concept plan developed by BKK, the northern and southern sections would have been renovated at the same time. This idea had to be discarded, as replacing the metro with buses could not be solved. The number of available vehicles and the financial coverage of the project did not allow the realization of the concept. This circumstance already at the beginning of the project resulted in a significant increase in the implementation period, of around 17 months, metro renovation project director Tibor Radnay told Magyar Nemzet about the background of the renovation. As he said, at the start of the project in November 2017, the original plans were about partial accessibility, that is, the accessibility of 12 stations.
The technical content of the renovation changed significantly when a decision was made in May 2018 to make the line fully accessible. While the renovation works were already underway, the contracts had to be amended due to accessibility, and the technical solution had to be developed for the eight stations involved.
Among other things, subsequent accessibility measures were carried out on the northern (Dózsa György út) and southern sections (Ecseri út and Pöttyös utca stations), and in the case of underground stations, the feasibility of new structures and inclined elevators had to be investigated, their plans had to be prepared, and the permits also had to be obtained, since such structures have not worked in public traffic so far in Hungary.
As was previously reported in the press, several conflicts and problems arose during the renovation since the current left-wing city administration took over the project, among other things, the deadline for handing over some stops was postponed several times.
A few months ago, after Világgazdaság wrote that they cannot keep the most recently committed completion of the first quarter of 2023, the mayor said about the article that it was not true. However, this date was also listed on the project's official website. So this was quickly scrapped and amended to May 2023.
Magyar Nemzet wrote that former mayor István Tarlós, who informed Gergely Karácsony in a letter, will not be present at today's ceremony of the final handover of metro 3. István Tarlós explained in his reply letter that he also values the invitation as a personal gesture on the part of Karácsony for all those - as he puts it - "sexless and difficult to interpret attacks that have previously come to light from opposition circles in connection with subway renovations and construction".
He recalled that in November 2018, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán needed personal help to ensure sufficient coverage.
"Remember, please, that we had to approach metro matters in such a way that we inherited a deficit of more than seventy billion forints as the operating debt of BKV alone," added István Tarlós. In his letter, the former mayor also stated to Karácsony: "I congratulate you on the successful completion of the M3 renovation, which in the end can rightly be considered a joint success of the two city administrations and the government."
Source and full article: Magyar Nemzet
Featured image: MTI/Zoltán Balogh
