Passenger operator MÁV-Start has awarded TMH Hungary’s Dunakeszi plant a €90m contract to undertake heavy maintenance and modernisation of 403 coaches over four years.

These comprise 263 vehicles currently operated on domestic services and 140 used on international routes.

The scope of the project includes scheduled work on 194 vehicles, and full modernisation of 209 coaches which will be fitted with a refurbished interior, new automatic doors, LED lighting, USB sockets and a new livery.

The TMH Hungary 50:50 joint venture of Russian rolling stock manufacturer Transmashholding’s overseas subsidiary TMH International and Budapest-based investment company Magyar Vagon took over the plant from Hungary’s National Asset Management Agency MNV and state railway group MÁV in June this year. It is currently using the site to manufacture 680 of the 1 300 coaches which Egyptian National Railways ordered from TMH in 2018.

‘Winning this contract with MÁV-Start is an important step for us, since our clear intention is to set up in Dunakeszi the biggest rail vehicle manufacturing and services base for Hungary and Eastern Europe’, said Terence Watson, Senior Vice-President Europe at TMH International, on July 31. ‘This award confirms the role of Dunakeszi as the leading maintenance site in the country.’