The first new Alstom metro enters commercial service in Budapest

22 new metro trainsets are to replace the old metros by spring 2013

The new METROPOLIS metro trainsets of Budapest were designed in France, the prototype underwent extensive testing at the test site in Valenciennes Petit Foret, Northern France. The metros traction system was manufactured in Hungary, the carbody shells and the actual assembly took place in Alstom Transports Manufacturing Excellence Centre, based in Katowice, Poland.
The 100 meters long metros are capable of transporting 1023 passengers including 209 seated ones. Each car has 4 wide, external sliding doors on its sides. The metros able to run at maximum speed of 70 kph - are single spaced thus passengers can walk from one end to the other inside the train, through 1.5 m wide gangways. The comfort and safety of the passengers are further enhanced with air-conditioning and state-of-the-art passenger information systems.
Alstom has been manufacturing metros for more than 70 years. One in four metros currently in service in the world is manufactured by Alstom. In total, 4,000 METROPOLIS coaches have been sold across the world in cities such as Barcelona, Warsaw, Singapore, Shanghai, Nanjing, Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile or Santo Domingo. With the service entry of the new Budapest metro trainsets, Budapest joins the network of those nearly 50 cities where Alstom metros are carrying several million of passengers every day.