Minister Asks Railway Workers for Courtesy towards Passengers

By: hungarytoday.hu

Sep 03 2024
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Minister Asks Railway Workers

János Lázár, Minister of Construction and Transport, unveiled for the first time specific details of the previously announced railway development program. The program mainly sets out long-term goals, but the minister also touched on an important short-term solution: the right attitude towards passengers, which he expects from the railway company’s management as much as from its employees.

As Hungary Today reported, the government announced recently a five-point transport action plan, aiming to change, reform and transform the Hungarian transport system to improve the quality of services. The action plan includes

guaranteeing passengers’ rights,
building railways,
purchasing rolling stock,
improving passenger comfort, and
reorganizing MÁV Zrt. (Hungarian State Railways) into a new company.

In his latest social media post, the minister said that they cannot magically renew the MÁV fleet and the national railway track because “we are 30 years behind, but we are going to do it. He added that nearly HUF 850 billion (EUR 2 billion) of funding will be allocated to the task.

This money will be used to renew around half a thousand kilometers of track, restart the production of domestic IC (InterCity) wagons and buy good quality second-hand rolling stock.

What can be changed in the short term, however, is the attitude towards passengers: to help and support them in the difficult situations caused by inherited fleet and infrastructure conditions,”

he continued.

This is also the first thing he expects from the new management of the MÁV Group, which he presented to the company’s board of directors, supervisory board and advocacy managers during their meeting on Monday morning. He also made it clear at the private meeting that the image of Hungarian state railways cannot be left to self-proclaimed or frustrated transport experts. He also expects the new leaders of the MÁV Group to be personally involved in the discussions about MÁV, which so far have been held largely without them.

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