VIKTOR ORBÁN AND ISTVÁN TARLÓS HANDED OVER METRO LINE M4
It is almost unbelievable, but I can very well say, Metro Line 4 has at last been completed, and we can hand it over to the public of Budapest. The city has been long awaiting for this moment, longer than we would think, for over 40 years – as Viktor Orbán said in his hand-over speech.
The prime minister recalled that the plans to build Metro Line 4 went back to the 1970s. When the construction at last began in 2006, there was little to be pleased about it: its costs soared, and the chances of completion seemed remote. At the time, Metro Line 4 became the bittersweet theme of popular jokes; the citizens of Budapest began to get used to the idea that Metro Line 4 would be used only by their grandchildren or not even them – reminisced Viktor Orbán. Luckily, we need not be Chuck Norrises to be able to use Metro Line 4 – he remarked.
It is thanks first and foremost to the unity and joining of forces that came into being in 2010 and has remained that we can now stand here and hand over the new metro – said the prime minister. And this holds true for the relation between the Government and the Municipality of Budapest, as well - he added. According to the prime minister, Budapest is going to be a proud capital if it undertakes major projects, but it can only do so if it finds the ways of cooperation with whatever government is in office.
Viktor Orbán: István Tarlós unravelled the gigantic knot of the project.
Viktor Orbán called attention to the fact that, over time, the project grew into a gigantic knot, which, as it could not be cut, had to be unravelled by István Tarlós and his team. By reviewing the contracts and negotiating steadfastly, they managed to save many billions of forints of public money – he added. The prime minister recalled that he had made one single request, that one single deadline should be stated, but that one should be met. The prime minister congratulated István Tarlós and his colleagues for the work completed. Viktor Orbán also expressed his thanks to the over 5000 people who had worked on the extraordinary project.
The prime minister also touched upon the fact that the national budget took over 324 billon forints of debt from the Municipality and Districts of Budapest. He also called attention to the fact that agreement called Budapest 21 was concluded in order to harmonize the leadership policies of the Municipality of Budapest and the Government.
Joining forces, we renewed Kossuth tér, soon we will open the Castle Gardens Bazaar, we built a new music centre, we brought back the old splendour of the Academy of Music and Erkel Theatre, the Music Hall (Vigadó) was opened, and we will soon begin to build the new Museum Quarter. The FTC stadium will be completed soon, so will the Pit (Gödör), we will handover Ludovika, and the Thorn Hall (Tüskecsarnok) will also be put into the service of Budapest public wanting to entertain sports. To top all this, Metro Line 4 can start operation after over 40 years – enumerated the projects the head of the cabinet.
Viktor Orbán is grateful to Mayor István Tarlós for an active municipal leadership in Budapest, which not only speaks but acts also, and if it agrees something it keeps its word. The city should continue to remain a city of action instead of words only – he added. According to the prime minister, we should not forget that action needs force, and force needs unity. I suggest that the citizens of Budapest hold on to the unity that they had created in 2010 and preserve the unity by which they brought into being the current city leadership – said Viktor Orbán.
István Tarlós: the biggest construction project of the country is completed at last
Following confused preparations and subsequent serious efforts, one of the biggest construction projects of the country in recent decades has been completed, the building of the fourth metro line of Budapest has ended – stated István Tarlós in his ceremonial address. He recalled that the idea of building the line had arisen already in the 1970s. “It was not Gábor Demszky who thought up Metro Line 4; it had happened 20 years before that. But handing over metro line 4 at all costs almost became an obsession with the former mayor. We never got to know why exactly no agreement was reached to finance the construction project from the Russian state debt. It would have been more fortunate had the matter been handled as a technical and economic matter rather than a political and communications one during his reign; but this belongs to the past – pointed out István Tarlós.
He emphasized that the new municipal leadership had to undertake challenging struggles to correct the contracts of the metro left behind half complete, “to revive, practically save and complete the project”. He also noted that the international contracts concluded in 2005 and 2006 did not allow for any reconsideration of the continuation of the project by 2010. A general termination of the 16 metro contracts without justification would have resulted in indemnity lawsuits anticipating sure bankruptcy for the city. Terminating the project was thus not an alternative – pointed out István Tarlós. By renegotiating the contracts, the city leadership coming into office in 2010 regained tens of billions of forints for the city, “instead of politicizing the metro we engaged in building it”. Formerly, between 2002 and 2010, the planned completion date was extended almost annually. We defined one single date for handover, the spring of 2014, and kept our word with the unfailing support of the current government – he stressed.
István Tarlós stated: “We should be fair in the knowledge of success. We owe this gesture to ourselves, as well. We must acknowledge the work of those many, technicians, mechanics, workers, administrators, even politicians, who toiled with honour before us. Let us put it this way: the former mayor and his colleagues started the project at the time of the Medgyessy cabinet, but we, at the time and with the support of the Orbán Cabinet, completed the gigantic, vicissitudinous project at the cost of immeasurable hardship.”
The mayor went on to say: “The current extension of the metro network of the city demonstrates that Budapest and the leadership of the country intend to and can cooperate. This is also needed as our work has not been completed, an urgent task is the reconstruction of the superannuated rolling stock and the entire line of Metro Line 3, which the former city leadership neglected, and in which can count on the support of the government. The fact of the cooperation between the Government and Budapest is underscored by several other projects being handed over currently.” The mayor thanked Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the Government and all participants for enabling the completion of the metro line.
The public will be able to use the line free of charge over the weekend.
Passengers will be able to use the line free of charge between midday Friday and closing of service on Sunday. As of Saturday, changes will be introduced in the surface public transport of ten Budapest Districts, Budaörs and Törökbálint. For further details see the link.
At the ceremony, a plaque with an engraved inscription commemorating the handover of the line in the floor of the station was also inaugurated, after which Viktor Orbán and István Tarlós took a trip along the entire line followed by a significant number of press workers. At the beginning of the handover ceremony, Gyula Győri, the president of the National Transport Authority, handed the permits of the metro line over to the mayor.
Technical data on Metro Line M4:
Metro Line 4 is 7.3 km long, and has ten stations. Running in two separate tunnels, Metro Line 4 starts at the Buda terminal, Kelenföld Railway Station, and leads through Bikás park, Újbuda-központ, Móricz Zsigmond körtér, Szent Gellért tér, Fővám tér, Kálvin tér, Rákóczi tér, and II. János Pál pápa tér stations to the Pest terminal, Keleti Railway Station. The internal diameter of the running tunnels is 5.2 metres, the track gauge is 1.435 metres, the depth of the stations is between 14.5 and 31 metres, the length of station-box structures is between 69 and 257, the length of the platforms is 80 metres, and the station platforms are placed in between the tracks. The line has a rolling stock of 15 sets of trains made up of four open-gangway cars each, and their control is fully automatic. During the minimum half a year of the Test in Traffic Operation, a train attendant will be on board the trains for the sake of maximum safety, but the driver compartments will be removed at the end of this period. The project was realized through joint government and municipal financing and EU cofinancing. The total cost of the investment is 452.5 billion forints, of which 180 billion forints are from EU funds, and the sum includes a maximum of 67.5 billion forints risk contingency for the settlement of possible disputes and additional costs.
Photos by Mihály Majtényi, budapest.hu