There will be no Christmas in Budapest
A decades-old tradition has been broken by the fact that no light trams will run in the capital this year. Back in 2008, fourteen years ago, the BKV light tram rolled out of the depot for the first time. Since then, the company has decorated the vehicle every Christmas season, and over time, light trolleys and light hangers have also been in use.
These flights had separate schedules and proved extremely popular,
not surprisingly especially among children.
However, this year the decision was made that BKV will not put up the light garlands on any of its vehicles in Zugló car park, the home of light trams.
Everyone was proud of the electric lights
However, the last time a real fleet of light trams ran: in 2021, six were lit up and the festive cogwheel was launched on the first day of December by the capital’s transport company.
- The good old UV,
- the Tatras,
- the KCSV-7 and
- each vehicle of the Hanover trams
besides, other types were decorated with reference to popularity. That way
- for the first time, LED strips were placed on the side of the Ganz hinged (ICS),
- as well as the Combino running on Nagykörút
the first yellow lighting elements and Advent stickers.
What would be the use of banning electric lights?
Related to this, by Christmas 2022, the capital reduced the number of light vehicles to zero, even though in the winter of 2021, Mayor Gergely Karácsony himself proudly reported on the spectacularly illuminated trams on his social media page.
The reasons are of course well-known: due to the energy crisis and the rise in utility bills, everyone is saving money, of course Budapest too. This is also admirable, which is why it is difficult to digest that during the holidays, precisely such “services” are charged at the town hall,
which in pennies,
on the other hand, they pay handsomely for creating a festive atmosphere and improving general well-being. This is not the first time that the city administration has seen an opportunity to save money in Christmas lights.
Instead of holiday lights, dark spots for nothing
The capital assembly still voted at the end of October Kata Tüttő’s presentation on blowing down the Christmas decorative lighting in public spaces, which she says reflects on the current economic situation. The deputy mayor responsible for city operations argued that the decorative lighting was a voluntary task,
his termination is a finger that hurts the least to cut off.
Even if this is true, the fact is that the step represents, at most, a rounding error in the budget of the capital from the point of view of savings.
In total, gross HUF 28.384 million will be saved
with the fact that there will be no Christmas lights in the capital’s public spaces. The most absurd element of the story is that the ban does not apply to the districts, so the people of Budapest can find on the streets that some places have decorations and some don’t.
Do you really have to bend over backwards for every HUF?
The stop of BKV light vehicles not only does not bring in millions, but perhaps not even hundreds of thousands. It is beyond dispute that the price of electricity has risen considerably, but how much does it cost to operate several dozen LED strings and string lights? Especially in the way that BKV installed them with its own employees in one week, with the involvement of five people. There is no official answer to this, perhaps not by chance. In response to VG’s inquiries, the BKV did not want to reveal how much savings it will realize by shutting down the light electrics.
He stated that the decision was made due to the drastic increase in energy prices,
listening to the words of common sense and meeting our savings goals, because every penny counts for our company now.
He indicated that the Advent tram without LED lighting, which runs from Friday, is a regular scheduled service, with no additional operating costs. They are confident that its special interior decoration will match the festive atmosphere of the Christmas preparations.
We are all the same because of this month: we have to stay on our feet in the coming ones, and we have to maintain the functionality of BKV for the sake of ourselves and our passengers
– concluded his statement to our newspaper.
Budapest is not a region for light electrics
It is not disputed that every forint counts, but it is striking that
somehow only the capital remained without Christmas flights.
The domestic cities that maintain the electricity network, i.e Miskolc, Debrecen and Szeged they kept their traditional light vehicles. Similarly to Prague, Plzen, Brno and the list goes on.