MÁV-Start signed a framework contract with Stadler in April 2017 for up to 40 Kiss sets with an initial order of 11 trains. A further eight sets were ordered in August 2018.
Trains from the initial tranche are due to enter service in early 2020.
The original framework contract stipulated that MÁV-Start would pay 10% of the purchase price in advance for further orders. However, MÁV-Start and Stadler have now amended the terms of the framework contract and advance payment will not be necessary for the remaining 21 trains.
This will enable MÁV-Start to seek financing for the remaining trains from the European Union’s 2021-2027 budget.
MÁV-Start is also looking at buying 10 dual-mode multiple units with an option for a further six. These would initially be used on the Budapest - Tapolca line, which is being electrified as far as Balatonfüred in the next two years.
Extending electrification beyond Balatonfüred via Tapolca to Keszthely is planned , but no funding has yet been made available. Dual-mode trains are therefore considered a viable option for replacing the current locomotive-hauled trains.
These could be financed using the so-called carbon-dioxide quota that the government may assign for funding environmentally friendly projects.
Should the line be electrified beyond Balatonfüred, the dual-mode MUs will be transferred to other lines where a change of locomotives or a change of trains is currently needed (such as Budapest - Debrecen - Mátészalka, Budapest - Hatvan - Salgótarján, Budapest - Békéscsaba - Gyula).
