MÁV-Start's Entire KISS Motor Train Fleet in Service

The railway passenger transportation company MÁV-Start has put into service all 40 KISS double-decker multiple units delivered to the company by Stadler under the framework contract signed in 2017, completing the railway company's fleet of double-decker multiple units.

Zoltán Pafféri, Chairman and CEO of the mother company MÁV, stressed at a press conference at the closing event of the project held at Budapest's Nyugati railway station on Saturday that the purchase of the 40 double-decker multiple units was made possible with the support of the European Union, which provided HUF 228 billion.

The KISS trains have already covered some 8.8 million kilometers for MÁV and passengers are satisfied with them, he added.

Róbert Homolya, Managing Director of Stadler Trains Hungary Ltd, said that the railway company had ordered the motor trains in batches of 11, 8 and 21 units.

Despite the coronavirus epidemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war, the vehicles were delivered to MÁV at the price stipulated in the contract signed in 2017, he said.

The Stadler company's vehicles, which are also made in Hungary, are used in several countries. The ‘backbone’ of the modern motor trains in Hungary is made up of 123 Flirt and 40 KISS motor trains.

Following the press conference, three linked KISS trains set off for the Danube Bend. For the first time in Europe, three interconnected trains with a total length of 467.7 meters and 1,200 passengers on board were able to set off on their journey in Hungary.

According to a statement by MÁV, the final assembly of some of the motor trains was carried out in Hungary, while the bogies were assembled entirely by Hungarian workers at Stadler's plant in Szolnok.

The first KISS started passenger trial operation in March 2020, but the pandemic has put the double-decker multiple units on forced rest for almost six months. They finally resumed service from the end of August 2020, and since then the new trains have been running continuously.