Prime Minister Viktor Orbán addressed a ceremony on Tuesday, in which the city of Budapest took delivery of new Mercedes Citaro buses, stating that "without a strong and successful capital there isn't a strong and successful Hungary".

Winner of the tender last year VT Transman will provide the Budapest Public Transport Centre (BKK) with bus services worth an annual 10 billion forints. It took delivery of the first 50 Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses at a ceremony in Heroes' Square, as part of a 159-unit order.

Prime Minister Orbán said Hungary is now performing better and Budapest is also showing that it is capable of more than it had been capable of in the past. He said the people of Budapest deserved to have the world's most modern bus technology operating on the streets of the capital.

Mayor of Budapest István Tarlós joined the Prime Minister at the ceremony and emphasised that the standard of public transport has to be raised. He noted that the new vehicles would be the first low-floor buses to take the streets of Budapest since 2006.

The capital recently authorised the taking over of up to two-thirds of the city's bus services by private contractors. The number of buses owned an operated by private contractors in the capital is set to rise from 150 in 2013 to 450 by 2014 and to 900 by 2016.

(Prime Minister’s Office)