15.02.10
Hungary: 60th MÁV FLIRT in operation – Stadler delivered the last vehicle two months before deadline
Hungarian passenger transport operator MÁV-START Zrt. set the last Stadler FLIRT out of the altogether 60 ordered trains into operation on 12 February. The Swiss railway producer Stadler Rail Group delivered the last vehicle more than two months before the original deadline agreed in the contract, therefore the delivery part of the MÁV-Stadler contract ended earlier than expected. The FLIRTs have run altogether more than 16,000,000 km on the Hungarian railways, with a very high 94% reliability index.
Hungarian State Railways Co. and Stadler signed the delivery agreement for 30 suburban electric multiple units in 2006. The contract included an option for MÁV to order further 30 trains, which option it executed after the successful delivery of the first batch in 2007 December. According to the original deadline of the agreement, the last train should have arrived at the end of April 2010, however Stadler delivered the trains and therefore closed the project two months earlier than determined in the contract. The earlier operation of the state-of-the art trains means significant cost reduction for MÁV.
As a specialty of the project, the last seven trains of the order were made in the new rail vehicle welding plant of Stadler in Szolnok, which it constructed as a greenfield investment in 2009. The Hungarian workforce was responsible for the welding, compiling and painting of 28 bodyshells of the ordered 4-part trains, which meant altogether seven complete trains. The maintenance and cleaning of FLIRTs is also accomplished by Stadler in Pusztaszabolcs, which results in a high 94% availability of the trains in service.
Tamás Kozák, CEO of MÁV-START said: “FLIRT trains have brought quality change to the Hungarian railway passenger transport, especially in the suburban area of Budapest. The objective of MÁV-START is to provide passengers with convenient, comfortable railway services, for which the possession of new vehicles is crucial. Adapting to the needs and possibilities we try to utilize the new trains of our fleet to provide regional passenger too with the possibility of travelling on the new vehicles. It is a pleasure for us that now altogether 60 FLIRT trains are in operation on the Hungarian railways.
“I dare to claim that we exceeded the wildest dreams with this project, because we not only kept what we promised in terms of timing, but also accomplished the project much earlier than expected. Early delivery is not a regular phenomenon in the railway industry these days, therefore I believe that Stadler made an outstanding performance and proved again that it is a reliable partner. I am very proud of the project team, including the representatives of MÁV, the National Transport Authority and of course Stadler’s staff, because what they achieved during this project is really something special.” – said Peter Spuhler, CEO and majority owner of Stadler Rail Group.
The FLIRT trains are in service every day between Budapest-Székesfehérvár, Budapest-Pusztaszabolcs, Budapest-Győr, and from the beginning of September between Budapest-Hatvan. The trains are also available for the travelling public on the weekends between Budapest-Szob and Budapest-Eger.
For further details please contact:
MÁV-START Zrt.
Anita Balogh-Fazekas, Spokeswoman
Tel: 06 30 823 44 24
fazekas.anita@mav-start.hu
Stadler Trains Magyarország Kft.
Csaba Kiss, Communications Manager
Tel: +36 1 266 0065; +36 30 511 0158
csaba.kiss@stadlerrail.hu
About the FLIRT
The name of the FLIRT is an acronym made from Fast Light Innovative Regional Train. The vehicle has a roomy design for even greater passenger comfort. Careful design of the running gear and drive systems provides an exceptionally comfortable ride and low noise level. The vehicles can provide a comfortable travelling for the ones with disabilities too due to the fully low-floor structure and the retracting platform. The trains are also equipped with a GPS based passenger information system. The FLIRT trains are fully accessible and air-conditioned.
In addition to the comfort features, the FLIRT has outstanding technical characteristics too: the train is able to accelerate dynamically, enabling the FLIRT to easily compensate leeways, which can be utilised very efficiently in suburban transport. The state-of-the-art braking system, combined with regenerative brake, enables the train to stop within a short braking distance. In addition, it recuperates electricity to the overhead line, resulting in significant cost reduction.
About Stadler Rail Group
The Stadler Rail Group, the system provider for customised solutions in rail vehicle manufacture, has locations in Switzerland (Altenrhein, Bussnang and Winterthur), in Germany (Berlin-Pankow and Velten), in Poland (Siedlce), in Hungary (Budapest, Pusztaszabolcs and Szolnok), as well as in Algeria (Algiers). More than 3,000 people are employed group-wide. The best-known vehicle families of the Stadler Rail Group are the GTW articulated railcar (501 trains sold), the RS1 Regio Shuttle (404 trains sold), the FLIRT (547 trains sold) and the DOSTO double-decker train (73 trains sold) in the complete train sector, and the Variobahn (264 vehicles sold) and the newly developed Tango (142 vehicles sold) in the streetcar sector. In addition, Stadler manufactures passenger coaches and diesel-electric locomotives, and is the leading manufacturer of rack railway vehicles worldwide.
