Hungary’s state railway company MÁV will lease ten InterCity carriages from Austria’s national railway operator for the summer Balaton season, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Dávid Vitézy announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
According to Vitézy, the move was necessary because years of what he described as ‘railway-destroying policies’ left MÁV unable to properly manage the surge in passenger traffic during the summer holiday season around Lake Balaton.
‘The situation is still serious,’ the minister wrote, arguing that the collapse of the Dunakeszi rail repair facility and delays in mandatory overhauls of InterCity coaches have left MÁV with fewer operational long-distance carriages than in previous years.
He said immediate action was required and that leasing rolling stock from Austria represented the fastest and most effective solution.
At the same time, the government is working on a long-term renewal of Hungary’s long-distance rail fleet, Vitézy said, adding that the process must ‘almost start from zero’ after procurement tenders for new trains were withdrawn by the previous minister at the end of 2022.
The minister also described the agreement with the Austrian railway operator as a significant improvement in bilateral relations compared to the previous government.
According to Vitézy, former minister János Lázár had severely damaged relations with Austria in recent years.
He recalled that in November 2023, the Austrian deputy chief executive of GYSEV was dismissed with immediate effect, while efforts were also made to push Austrian stakeholders out of the company, prompting the Austrian state to launch legal action against Hungary.
‘For years there was practically no communication between the two sides,’ Vitézy said, adding that relations had improved enough within weeks to make agreements such as the current leasing deal possible.
‘This also proves that if we approach issues not with arrogance and power politics, but with cooperation and the intention to find solutions, meaningful results can be achieved quickly,’ he said.
Vitézy added that he, Prime Minister Péter Magyar and several cabinet members will travel to Vienna this week in order to place Hungarian–Austrian relations on new foundations in ‘even bigger and more important matters.’
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