As they are no longer based on the PCC streetcar, they differed in many ways to earlier Tatra products, most notably that the vehicle was controlled by a hand lever rather than a foot pedal.

Between 1978 and 1984, 322 vehicles were supplied to Budapest and, as of September 2020, all are in service with 2 of them being used exclusively for driver training purposes.

A new program started in 2014, which refurbishes all remaining classic T5C5 units to the technical standards of T5C5K2.

As of September 2020, only 34 T5C5s are left in original condition with this number expected to decline further as more units are refurbished.

Some pins on the electrical coupling between units have been reused for FUTÁR's communication.