Budapest Municipal Council will not have enough money to upgrade the stations on the third metro line unless budget for the revamp is raised from central coffers, István Tarlós, Budapest mayor, told MTI on Friday.
If the budget for the project remains “capped” at the current 140 billion HUF, plans to upgrade the stops will have to be abandoned, Tarlós told a press conference.
The offers the capital has received so far for the upgrade of the stops were so high that the city and Budapest transport company BKV do not have the funds to cover them, he said.
Tarlós said the national development ministry had told the municipal council that the government would be unable to cover the extra costs of upgrading the metro stops.
On Thursday government office chief János Lázár said that the government considered the metro upgrade a priority issue and that the city council should decide whether it is necessary to revamp the carriages only or the stops as well.
“We will finance whatever the capital decides to do,” Lázár said. He voiced hope that Tarlós would not draw the conclusion from disputes with various ministries that they wanted to hinder the project.