budapest

UrbanRail.Net > Europe > Hungary > BUDAPEST Metro (Subway) http://www.urbanrail.net/eu/bud/budapest.htm

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BUDAPEST Hungary

System

The capital of Hungary is the result of the unification in 1873 of 3 cities: Buda and Óbuda on thewestern side of the Danube and Pest on the eastern side. Today, Budapest has approximately 2million inhabitants.

In Budapest there is a three line system, with all lines meeting in the city centre at Deák FerencTér.

M1 (5 km) was opened in 1896 between Vörösmarty tér in the centre and Széchenyi fürdõ as the

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first electric underground (Földalatti) line on the European mainland. Almost 80 years later, in1973, the line was extended to Mexikói út. This line is different from the other two in dimensions,directly under the street, and only 6 m wide and 2,75 m high. Therefore special trains had to bebuilt and a fixed catenary had be installed. For the 100-Years-Anniversary all stations wererestored and once again exhibit their historic splendor.

M2 (10 km) is an east-west line connecting both major railway stations, Déli (South station) andKeleti (East station), surface between Pillangö utca and the eastern terminus Örs vezér tere. Although construction had started already in the 50's, this line was only opened between 1970(Deák Ferenc tér - Örs vezér tere) and 1972 (Deák Ferenc tér - Déli pu.). In autumn 2003, M2started to undergo total refurbishing. Since it is the most used line in the city, stations will only beclosed and major work will only be carried out during the summer until 2007 with the followingschedule: summer 2004: stations Örs Vezér tere and Pillango utca; summer 2005: stations fromNépstadion to Deák tér (possible that Deák tér will only be renovated in 2006 since there are noswitches between Deák tér and Déli pályaudvar) summer 2006 and 2007: between Deák tér and Déli pályaudvar. All stations will get elevator access and the route will be refitted with modernelectronics that allow trains to be operated by 1 driver. On 1 Jan 2004, Népstadion was renamedStadionok.

M3 (18 km) is a north-south connection on the Pest side of the city. Apart from the southernterminus Köbánya-Kispest, all stations are underground. The first part (Deák tér - Nagyvárad tér) opened in 1976, in various stages it was extended in both directions. In 1990 it reached ÚjpestKözpont (with a station design that pays tribute to 1970's stations in Munich or Berlin).

More photos

Although the Budapest Metro (M2, M3) is not very old, trains have a rather classical look. Like inPrague and all ex-Soviet metro cities, trains are identical to those used in Moscow. One train ismade of five cars on M2 and of six on M3. On the train, stations are announced acoustically and aline panel is installed on top of the doors.

BKV ordered new Alstom Metropolis rolling stock for metro lines M2 and M4: 22 5-car and 22 4-cartrainsets.

History

M1 (Földalatti)02-05-1896 Vörösmarty tér (formerly Gizella tér) - Széchenyi fürdõ (formerly above-ground andnamed Artézi fürdõ) 30-12-1973 section Hõsök tere - Széchenyi fürdo is put underground and extended to Mexikói Út 1995-1996 complete renovation of the line

M202-04-1970 Deák Ferenc tér - Örs vezér tere 22-12-1972 Deák Ferenc tér - Déli pályaudvar

M331-12-1976 Deák Ferenc tér - Nagyvárad tér 20-04-1980 Nagyvárad tér - Kobánya-Kispest 30-12-1981 Deák Ferenc tér - Lehel tér 07-11-1984 Lehel tér - Árpád híd 14-12-1990 Árpád híd - Újpest-Központ


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Photos © Ádám Kovács

Projects

M4 is now under construction. It will run totally underground between Keleti and Kelenföldi rail stations crossing M3 at Kálvin ter, then under the Danube river to Szt. Gellért ter and south-west through Buda (see link below for details on all stations). The start of construction has beendelayed time and again, and the first section will not open before 2010. Later an extension toBosnyák tér may be added. View map! The line is being equipped by Siemens for full automaticdriverless operation.

Line M5 is planned to link the northern and the southern suburban (HÉV) lines. The line will beunderground from Kaszásdûlõ to Könyves Kálmán körút (Lágymányosi bridge), via Boráros tér.Other parts will include existing suburban routes {Kaszásdûlõ - Szentendre, Könyves K. körút -Csepel, K. K. körút - Ráckeve}.The first segment of this route may be constructed by 2012,between Lágymánosi híd / Közvágóhíd - Boráros tér - Kálvin tér, linking the existing HÉV-lines tometro lines M3 and M4.

Line M2 may be united with Gödöllõ suburban line, which is an old project. The Urban andSuburban Transit Association (VEKE) elaborated a very detailed plan for it.

Later M3 might be extended northwards from Újpest-Központ to Káposztásmegyer, with 3-5stations possibly after 2015, since most of the surface track have been laid down about 10 yearsago and is currently being used by trams. A southern extension to the Ferihegy Airport has beenproposed.

M1 may be extended to Rákosrendezõ rail station.

See a map illustrating all current projects (by Ádám Kovács).

Practical Info

The Budapest Metro operates between 4:30 and 23:10 with trains every 4-5 minutes (2-3 minduring rush hours). After 20:00 h there is a fixed timetable which is quite reliable.

Good quality network maps are sometimes available at ticket offices. They show all bus, tram,metro and HÉV lines and give you all kind of general information on the system.

Tickets (2008, in Hungarian Forint):

Single 270F if bought in advance, else 350F

1-Day-Pass - 1550F3-Day-Pass - 3400F7-Day-Pass - 4000F

Budapest has an open fare system. You have to cancel your ticket at the entrance of the metro oron buses and trams, but there are no barriers. Controls are very thorough on some days! Somestations have ticket vending machines showing on-screen instructions in 4 languages (Hungarian,German, English and Italian).

Generally the Budapest Metro is well integrated into the city transport system which includesbuses, trams, metro and HÉV (suburban) trains. All tickets are valid for any means of transportwithin Budapest City.


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Basic Hungarian for metro users:

földalatti - underground, felé - direction, tér - square, híd - bridge, pályaudvar - rail station, kijárat- exit

Links

BKV Official Page

Line 4 project includes detailed information on stations and construction

UrbanRail.Net > Budapest Metro Gallery

METROS by Ádám Kovács incl. Detailed map showing all rail transport in Budapest, from mainline railways to trams

metrobudapest.uw.hu

Millenium Subway by Akos Varga (about M1 and trams)

Villamosok & metrók by Tamás Nagy

Track map (by Stefan Baumgartner)

HÉV (Suburban Rail)Out of four HÉV-lines, only two are directly connected to the metro system.

The line to Szentendre in the north leaves from Batthyány tér (M2) and runs underground as far as Margit híd. During day time trains run every 10 minutes with

every second train only as far as Békásmegyer (city limit). This Stadtbahn type has level crossingsall along the route.

The eastern line to Csömör and Gödöllö leaves from M2's eastern terminus at Örs vezér terewith trains every 20 minutes.

The two southern lines to Csepel and Ráckeve can only be reached by bus or tram.

Photos © Ádám Kovács

Metro Museum

At Deák Ferenc tér, in the former Földalatti station, there is a Metro Museum showing the original trains of today's M1 and illustrating the history of the Budapest Metro.

Thanks to Hámori Dániel and Roger Barta!

2004 © UrbanRail.Net by Robert Schwandl.

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