The Budapest Transport Company Zrt. (BKV) told Világgazdaság that the precise scheduling of reconstruction work will be determined once contracts have been signed with contractors.
A HUF 24.1 billion contract will be signed for the renovation of the northern stretch of the line at the end of August or early September. The local unit of Austriaʼs Strabag won the public procurement tender to renovate the Újpest-Központ, Újpest-Városkapu, Gyöngyösi utca, Forgách utca, Árpád híd and Dózsa György út stops on the northern stretch of the line, the paper said.
The BKV is also calling a new public procurement tender for the renovation of stations on the middle and southern stretches of the line. The tender is the third the BKV has called after deciding the offers in the first two tenders were unrealistic, meaning that only work on the northern stretch will begin in the immediate future.
Original plans envisaged the M3 renovation to be completed by 2019, but Világgazdaság observes that this is now unlikely to be achieved.
Once renovation work begins in the fall, trains will run only between the southern terminus of the line at Kőbánya-Kispest and Lehel tér. The Center for Budapest Transport (BKK), which manages the cityʼs transport infrastructure, notes that at certain periods in the evenings and at weekends, renovation work will necessitate the running of replacement buses along the entire length of the line.
The BKV is meanwhile beefing up its fleet of buses to provide alternative transport along the metro line while it is being renovated.
At the same time, surface road and traffic works related to the M3 renovation have begun. Work in the vicinity of the Árpád híd metro station is expected to last until October 31.
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