Tram café plan rejected by Budapest government

An entrepreneur from Mogyoród has bought nine old trams from Budapest transport company BKV and is planning to turn them into cafés. However, his plan to renovate the iconic vehicles and use them as cafés in the capital was not approved by the local government on grounds that the establishments would "harm the cityscape," writes velvet.hu. At the same time, 50 year-old, dilapidated trams are still running on the 47 line, and nobody is complaining about them, the portal points out.

BKV is currently selling its oldest trams after they became redundant when the new Siemens Combino trams arrived last year. Krisztina Szendrei, an employee of the entrepreneur, contacted several district governments and the Budapest Government to inquire about conditions for getting a permission to use public areas, but was informally told that there was no use trying to get approval for the tram cafés.

The vehicles, which BKV sold for half a million forints (€1,970) each, are currently standing in the yard of a guesthouse operated by the entrepreneur who bought them. Transporting them from Budapest to Mogyoród with the help of special cranes and trailers cost as much as purchasing them, and their renovation will require at least the same amount again. The pension will keep one or two and use them as cafés or accommodation, while the fate of the others - unless district governments are willing to consider the request - is uncertain.

Sándor Horváth, head of the Budapest Government Department of Enterprises, believes there is little chance that renovated trams functioning as cafés will get permission to use public spaces, based on previous experience. He mentioned that a similar establishment operated on Buda's Móricz Zsigmond körtér in the past, but was not allowed to stay for reasons related to cityscape protection. Horváth could not say why renovated trams would look worse than those currently running on Line 47.

Gyula Horváth, vice-chairman of the committee in charge of issuing public area usage permits, thinks the idea of tram cafés is good, but he doesn't believe they should be stationed at frequented locations like Andrássy út, Hősök tere or Vörösmarty tér.

District XIV Mayor Leonárd Weinek also likes the idea, but could not tell if there was any legal reason to prevent tram cafés. In Zugló, UV trams were part of the lives of locals for a long time, until they were replaced by newer models passed down from Hannover, Germany.

The press department of the District XV Government said they needed to receive an official request before they could make a decision.

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