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

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

M1 (5 km) was opened in 1896 between Vörösmarty tér in the centre and Széchenyi fürdő as the first electric underground (Földalatti) line on the European mainland. Almost 80 years later, in 1973, 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 be built and a fixed catenary had be installed. For the 100-Years-Anniversary all stations were restored and once again exhibit their historic splendor.

M2 (10 km) is an east-west line connecting both major railway stations, Déli (South station) and Keleti (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, M2 started to undergo total refurbishing. Since it is the most used line in the city, stations will only be closed and major work will only be carried out during the summer until 2007 with the following schedule: summer 2004: stations Örs Vezér tere and Pillango utca; summer 2005: stations from Népstadion to Deák tér (possible that Deák tér will only be renovated in 2006 since there are no switches 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 modern electronics that allow trains to be operated by 1 driver. On 1 Jan 2004, Népstadion was renamed Stadionok.

M3 (18 km) is a north-south connection on the Pest side of the city. Apart from the southern terminus 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 Újpest Központ (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 in Prague and all ex-Soviet metro cities, trains are identical to those used in Moscow. One train is made of five cars on M2 and of six on M3. On the train, stations are announced acoustically and a line 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-car trainsets.

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

M2
02-04-1970 Deák Ferenc tér - Örs vezér tere
22-12-1972 Deák Ferenc tér - Déli pályaudvar

M3
31-12-1976 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

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 been delayed time and again, and the first section (Kelenföldi/Etele tér - Keleti pályaudvar) will not open before 2011. The second section (Keleti pályaudvar - Bosnyák tér) is scheduled for completion in 2013. View map! The line is being equipped by Siemens for full automatic driverless operation.

Line M5 is planned to link the northern and the southern suburban (HÉV) lines. The line will be underground from Kaszásdűlő to Könyves Kálmán körút (Lágymányosi bridge), via Boráros tér. Other parts will include existing suburban routes {Kaszásdűlő - 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 to metro lines M3 and M4.

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

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

M1 may be extended to Rákosrendező rail station.

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

Tickets (2009, in Hungarian Forint):

Single 290F if bought in advance, else 400F

24-Hour-Pass - 1500F
72-Hour-Pass - 3700F
7-Day-Pass - 4400F

Budapest has an open fare system. You have to cancel your ticket at the entrance of the metro or on buses and trams, but there are no barriers. Controls are very thorough on some days!

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