As Siemens is vying for opportunities in the Middle East transportation sector, it is important to raise the issue of its performance in Hungary.
The Budapest City Council has recently completed its investigation into a host of problems related to the city’s new ‘Combino’ trams and its manufacturer, Germany’s Munich-based Siemens AG.
The supervisory board of BKV Rt, Budapest’s city-owned transportation firm, had called for a major investigation following numerous problems with the tram projects that occurred with them since their delivery and launch this summer, including both with the trains themselves and with their electrical cable network.
The project had also come under harsh criticism from Budapest’s Metropolitan and Suburban Transport Association (VEKE) which claimed that due to the poor design, the line could paralyze public transport and car traffic in much of Budapest. The new 4-6 Combino tram line, which was to replace the Ganz trams, carries nearly half a million passengers daily along the Nagykorut ring road in Pest.
“The investigation has been completed,” stated BKV’s supervisory board chairman Gabor Szekely, according to the Budapest Business Journal (BBJ). The chairman declined to reveal the names of anyone the investigation may have found to have been responsible for problems being investigated. The Technical University of Budapest has since presented the findings of its investigation to the BKV advisory board. Without naming anyone specifically, the investigation reportedly found the substandard work had been undertaken by the project’s contractor and subcontractor. The results of the findings are expected to be a major overhaul of BVK.
“The board was looking for answers to several questions,” explained Szekely. “Namely, whether planning for the investment was technically appropriate, whether project execution and coordination was adequate, and whether the BKV was careful about choosing contractors and controlling certain work procedures.” Szekely also requested further elaboration on certain points of the investigation since the report presented contained several statements which raised new unanswered questions into the matter.
Problems with the project began in 2003, shortly after a contract had been signed between BKV and Siemens AG, Germany's largest maker of trains. Under the contract, Siemens would construct and deliver 40 Combino trams, each being a 54-meter, low-floor “worm” train, with a capacity to carry 350 passengers.
Under the original terms of the project contract, delivery of the trams was supposed to begin in autumn 2004, with the last unit to be installed in 2005. This was Budapest’s first new tram purchase in 25 years.
Costs of the Combino trains amounted to some 138 million euros. The European investment Bank (EIB) approved the contract decision and provided a loan in the amount of 75 million euros for the project, which was to include 40 trams. Currently, only eight of the trams are running.
Moreover, the contract’s original value was some 6.5 percent higher than the offer of Alstom Transport SA, which later submitted a complaint to Hungary’s Public Procurement Office. The complaint was subsequently rejected despite the fact that the tender committee had also been informed about major difficulties encountered with Combino trams in both Amsterdam and Dusseldorf.
By 2004, however, the original terms of the contract required renegotiation after Siemens had experienced significant difficulties with the trams in Basel and Poznan. The bolted aluminum car bodies had begun to crack.
Consequently, several European cities cancelled their Combino orders. Budapest and Lisbon, however, agreed to renewed contract in which they would receive newly designed Combino trams at a 13 million euro discount. They agreed to a one-year delivery delay of the trams.
The first tram units were ultimately delivered in March 2006 and began operation in July. However, faults subsequently appeared that would only require, according to Joachim Stark, a spokesman for Siemens's transportation division, “minor adjustments” and a few days to complete. Despite the optimistic predictions for getting the trams back on service, serious additional technical mishaps began to occur, including frequent breakdowns and door malfunctions. As a result, by August 1, at Mayor Gabor Demszky's order, the trains were taken out of service. Shortly thereafter, Siemens project manager Dirk Rosler publicly took blame for the problems, while the German firm later said in a statement that the mistakes were “unforgivable.” They added that though problems with the tram software in Budapest were unique, problems with doors were a matter of human error which could have been avoided.
Meanwhile, though Siemens promised that the first faulty trams would be in working order within several days, BKV and the Budapest City Council decided to put service on hold until all problems were properly addressed. In an attempt to remedy the problem, Siemens was forced to set aside about 400 million euros ($511 million) to cover repairs for cracks in the car’s bodies. At that time, Siemens was forced to redesign the Combino following a recall on running trams, and the Budapest models are of the new model. However, Budapest has since spent some Ft5 billion to adapt the new Nagykorut tramline to the new vehicles. The reconstruction project included readjustments to platform heights, garage reconstruction, and track adjustment. The Combino Suora Budapest NF12B trams are built in Vienna and are based on the former ADTranz low floor tram design. Two of the trams were tested in Germany, while the rest will be put to the test in Budapest.
Meanwhile, Siemens has agreed to pay only for the correction of technical errors, while, the strengthening of pillars supporting the cables will cost the city an estimated 385,000 euros.
Budapest’s Mayor Gabor Demsky has since called publicly for the removal of BVK’s CEO Botand Aba, a move that requires approval of Budapest’s assembly though it can be initiated by the city’s mayor. The city’s assembly has not been officially formed since local government elections in the city took place in October. “Budapest representatives have not yet signed a coalition agreement…if the mayor wants to initiate the removal of the BVK’s director, he will be able to do so after the assembly convenes after its official formation,” explained the pressperson of the city council, Agnes Borsodi.
“If I were the employer of Botond Aba,” Demsky stated as a result of the tram ordeal, “I would ask him to resign.”
In any case, as things seem now the suffering of Budapest residents from the Combino flop is set to continue. Delays and closed doors have become almost a daily routine. Just a few weeks ago, a local online source reported that a Siemens Combino tram was delayed half an hour as neither the driver nor the Siemens technician were able to close the door of the windshield wiper fluid container located on the front of the tram. Thus, many passengers in Budapest now ask themselves: is Mayor Demszky's threat with returning the trams to Vienna "if they break down again, even for five minutes." is still an option….
