Budapest Metro
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| Budapest Metro | |
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| Locale | Budapest |
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| Transit type | Electrified Metro Railway |
| Began operation | 1896 |
| System length | 31.7km |
| Number of lines | 3 (plus 1 under construction) |
| Number of stations | 40 (plus 12 under construction) |
| Daily ridership | 1.27 million (approximate) |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) |
| Operator(s) | BKV |
The Budapest Metro (Hungarian: Budapesti metró) is the metro system in the Hungarian capital Budapest. It consists of three lines, each marked with a number and a separate colour. Metro Line 4 is currently under construction and the first section is to be put into operation in 2010. Plans for Line 5 are also ready for implementation. It is the second oldest underground metro system in the world, and its iconic Line 1 (dating from 1896) was declared a World Heritage Site.[1]
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[edit] History
The original purpose of the first metro line was to facilitate the transport to Budapest City Park, although the capital always opposed any surface transport on Andrássy Avenue – this has since become the most elegant road of Budapest, part of the World Heritage. The National Assembly accepted the metro plan in 1870 and the German firm Siemens & Halske AG was commissioned for the construction starting in 1894. It took 2000 workers using up-to-date machinery less than two years to complete it. This section was built entirely from the surface (with the cut-and-cover method). Completed by the deadline, it was inaugurated on May 2 1896, the year of the millennium (the thousandth anniversary of the arrival of the Magyars), by emperor Franz Joseph. One of these original cars is preserved at the Seashore Trolley Museum.
The train ran along Andrássy út, from Vörösmarty Square (the centre) to City Park, in a northeast-southwest direction, but its terminus was the Zoo (this has since been replaced). It had eleven stations, nine underground and two overground. The length of the line was 3.7 km at that time; trains started in every two minutes. It was able to carry as many as 35,000 people a day (today 103,000 people travel on it on a workday).
The plans for the two further metro lines were made as early as in 1895, defining the main directions of north-south and east-west. The first plans for the present-day two lines were made in 1942, and the Council of Ministers' decree enacted its building in 1950. Metro 2 was originally planned to connect two major railway stations, Keleti (Eastern) and Déli (Southern) pályaudvar. They wanted to complete it by 1955, but construction was ceased for financial and political reasons from 1954 till 1963. It was finally opened with seven stations on April 4 (a Communist holiday) in 1970. It runs in an east-west direction, and as yet it is the only line to cross the River Danube and reach Buda (the western part of Budapest). It has a joint station with the existing metro at Deák Ferenc Square, which has since become a transfer point for the third line as well.
The first line underwent a thorough refurbishment between 1970 and 1973, including replacement of its rolling stock. When it reopened, the first line, which had previously run on the left, was switched to right-hand running, like the other lines. In 1973, both lines were extended (the first with one station, the second with four), so the first line reached its current length of 4.4 km, as well as the second, 10.3 km, consisting of eleven stations. The Budapest Transport Company (BKV) took over the maintenance in 1973, and this is which still runs the metro. The color-marking of the metro lines was introduced in 1976, when the first section of the third line was opened to the public. This was when the first line was given the color yellow, the second the red and the third the blue. (Additionally, the green color is used to mark the suburban railways in and around Budapest, see HÉV.)
The first decree for the third line was made in 1963, its construction started in 1970, and its first section was opened in 1976, consisting of six stations. Its southern direction was complemented with five more stations in 1980, and the northern one in 1981, 1984, and 1990 with nine stations, reaching its current length of 20 stations, 17 km, the longest line in Budapest. M3 runs in a north-south direction (more exactly, from north-northeast to southeast).
In the 80's and 90's, M1 had major reconstructions. Out of its 11 stations, eight are original and three were made at the reconstructions. The stations recall the time of the millennium, including the floor, the benches, the wooden windows and the lighting. Every station is a little museum as well, with photos and information. – There is a Millennium Underground Museum in the Deák Ferenc Square underpass where the rest from these times can be seen.
Metro 4 (as of 2007, under construction) has a long history, reaching back to 1972. In the past decades, difficulties arose from the medicinal springs around its planned route (eg. Gellért Baths). There was a long debate over whether its construction would be safe, what part should be paid by the government and the capital, whether it could be paid from the Russian state debt towards Hungary, whether its route was appropriate and whether it was really that worthy (rather than, for example, helping the conurbations' growth and access with a connector line, see M5 below), and in what length it should be built in the first phase. If it is finished by 2010 (which is the best case), its history will comprise 37 years, the longest time of all the metro lines in Budapest.
[edit] Recent and planned developments
[edit] Metro 2 reconstructions
Metro 2 is currently under major reconstructions, with much of the track and eight stations being ready (Blaha Lujza tér and Kossuth Lajos tér renovated in 2004, Batthyány tér, Astoria and Keleti pályaudvar in 2005 , Déli pályaudvar, Moszkva tér and Deák Ferenc tér in 2006). These are currently the most modern stations in Budapest. The line became completely renovated by the end of 2007. Elevators will be installed in the first phase at stations Kossuth Lajos tér, Blaha Lujza tér, Keleti pályaudvar, and Astoria. Besides, new carriages will be bought which provide air-conditioning. The renovations took place in the summer holidays (up to August 19 — the day before the day of Saint Stephen).
Recently, the Urban and Suburban Transit Association (Városi és Elővárosi Közlekedési Egyesület) presented a plan to unite line 2 with the HÉV from Gödöllő. The city government did not totally agree with the plan, but it still may be built after 2015.
[edit] Metro 4
Metro 4 will connect southwest Budapest (Buda) to northeastern Budapest (Pest). The first section between Kelenföldi Railway Station and Eastern Railway Station, with a length of 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi), is due to be completed in 2009, comprising 10 stations. The second section (with four stations) between Eastern Railway Station and Bosnyák Square, with a length of 3 kilometres (1.9 mi), is to be completed in 2010. Between 2002 and 2004, preparations for the metro at Bartók Béla Street and Fehérvári Street were made, along with the overall renovation of squares. On Móricz Zsigmond körtér and Bocskai út pedestrian underpasses were created, which will later become the disposal for Metro 4 passengers as well.
In 2005 construction works began on Baross tér (the square in front of the Eastern Railway Station). A new station exit was constructed, connecting the existing station of the metro line 2 to the surface in the area of the parking lot. The new station exit is needed to meet the significantly increase in traffic demand expected in the future. In addition to the current passenger numbers transported by metro line 2, another 600,000 passengers are expected to use the new metro line 4 daily in the future. Secondly, the new exit is built to enable closing of the currently operating exit during the construction works of the metro 4 station. A new underpass was constructed for the new exit, and new stairs were built toward Festetics utca. The construction works were completed by December 2005.
- March 27, 2006 - The founding stone for this metro line was laid [1]
- May 15, 2006 - The building of Szent Gellért tér station began.
- July 17, 2006 - The building of "Bocskai út" station began.
- March 21, 2007 -The building of "Népszínház utca" station began.
- April 3, 2007 - The building of the tunnels began.
- April 5, 2007 - The building of "Kálvin tér" station began.
A schedule of the construction works is currently available in the Internet Archive.[2]
A study published about the project by the Urban and Suburban Transit Association. This can be found here: The 4th metro line of Budapest - Wasteful plans from the past
[edit] Metro 5
Metro 5 is in the early planning stages. It will most likely run along the Danube (crossing it at Margaret Island), connecting suburban railways going north and going south. Its building is not yet planned to be started.
- See also List of M5 metro stations
[edit] Extension of Metro 3
There are plans for the extension of Metro 3 towards north (Káposztásmegyer) and southeast (Ferihegy Airport), perhaps also within the current decade. The option for the extension to Ferihegy airport becomes more unlikely since recent plans call for a train connection between the airport and Eastern Railway Station.
[edit] Usage
[edit] General information
Momentarily the only meeting point of the lines is Deák tér, however the forthcoming lines are going to have other stations for changing: M4 will cross the M2 and M3 lines at different stations.
Tickets have to be validated at the entrance with the orange-coloured machines before taking the escalator, and they have to be kept until leaving the metro. At validation, the current date and time is printed on tickets along with station information. Tickets are checked manually by the pass controllers, who usually turn up at stations near the escalators, but they may inspect tickets anywhere within the metro area; tickets or passes must be handed over to them on request. They wear a blue ribbon with golden inscription around their wrists, but they may hide it before the actual inspection. An automatized entrance system has been planned for a long time to be introduced in the metro and later on all the other means of public transport in Budapest - however there are still no factual plans published by the transport company (as of 2007).
To identify the required direction to take, one needs to know the name of the terminus; these are put out at the stations and usually at the escalators. The names of the stations are written on the wall of the tunnel in both directions.
None of the stations of either lines 2 or 3 has yet been made accessible for people with motion disabilities or parents with pram, including recently renovated stations. Line 4 will have stations accessible from the street level by elevators but people with wheelchair won't be able to use the underpasses when crossing a street. On line 1 (Millennium Underground) there are only three stations suitable for wheelchair users.
Travel conditions are the same for all the transport vehicles in Budapest, and they are available at the website of the transport company. These deal with the minimal age and health state of travellers, the maximum size of hand luggage (prohibiting some chemicals), transportation conditions for dogs (ticket/pass, muzzle and lead are required), prohibition of smoking, eating and playing music, the accident insurance provided with the ticket, and the conditions for its use.
[edit] Types of tickets and passes
There is a single ticket (as of 2008, 270 HUF), the same as for the other means of transport in Budapest, and there are further tickets available specifically for the metro: a section ticket for up to three stops, a transfer ticket for a trip with one transfer, and a section transfer ticket for up to five stops including one transfer.
Except for the section ticket (which is valid for 30 minutes) and single tickets on Metro 1 (also valid for 30 minutes), all tickets are valid for 60 minutes, within Budapest. One-day tickets, tourist tickets (for 3 days), seven-day travelcards, fortnight, 30-day and yearly passes can be bought too, as well as discount coupon books containing ten or twenty pieces. [2] – A Budapest Card [3] is often recommended for tourists, enabling free public transport in Budapest, but it is only worthwhile if one intends to visit lots of sights and take part in many programmes within the given two or three days.
[edit] Working hours and frequency
The Budapest Metro trains start running at 4:30 in the morning, and the last vehicle leaves at 11.10 p.m. from the terminus. The rush hours are between 6 and 8 a.m. and between 2 and 5 p.m. on workdays, when trains leave in every two or three minutes. Early morning and night trains leave in every 10 or 15 minutes. On Christmas Eve (December 24) trains usually run only until about 3:00 in the afternoon, and there may occur other breaks as well at special holidays (these are advertised beforehand). Service time may be extended on New Year's Eve.
[edit] Trivia
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- Due to developments in the early 2000s, mobile phones can be used throughout the existing metro lines.
- On Metro 2 and 3 there are still the same Soviet vehicles running (like in Moscow and some subway services of Prague, as well as the only line in Sofia and Warsaw). The trains are driven by two people, except for Metro 3, which has a "program carpet" controlling the trains' speed and stopping. This means that controlling the metro mostly consists of opening and closing the door. This latter system will be launched soon on Metro 2 as well. On the other hand, Metro 4 will be entirely automatic, functioning without human drivers.
- Most of the stations are underground, and they can be reached with escalators (usually three or four at a station). Metro 1, however, has only stairs at its stations (except for their joint transfer station) and there are four stations on the other two lines that don't have escalators: Pillangó utca, Örs vezér tere (the eastern end of Metro 2, it is street-level, actually),Nagyvárad tér and Lehel tér.
- The deepest station is Moszkva tér.
- The passengers' area is in the middle in most of the stations, but at some stations passengers have to use the stairs to take the opposite direction.
- In case of an attack or a catastrophe, the Budapest Metro can provide shelter for 220,000 people, including fresh air (with an air-filter), drinking-water (3 l) and washing-water (27 l per person per day).
- A film titled Kontroll was made in Budapest Metro in 2003. It was screened in Cannes and in the U.S.
- The movie Underworld (2003) also has scenes shot in the Budapest Metro.
- The original New York City Subway entrances were modeled after the Budapest Metro entrances.
- During a night in May 2008, the British DJ Pete Tong played on the platform of the central station "Deák Ferenc Square". Elevators and fixed vehicles were also used during that party.
[edit] Statistics
The full length of the three metro lines is 31.7 km, comprising 40 stations (among them one for changing). For the forthcoming Metro 4, 12 new stations will be built and two further stations adapted for transfer.
Budapest Metro serves about 1,270,000 people on a weekday (as of 2004, [4]). In 2003, there were 315 million travellers on the metro, which means 860,000 people for an average day ([5]).
[edit] Budapest metro in the media
- There is a game about Budapest metro created from realistic level data. It is downloadable from here. Also one can download the software from here.
- Kontroll, a 2003 film, which featured a more extensive metro system than in actual reality.
[edit] See also
- Budapest
- Budapest Cog-wheel Railway
- List of Budapest metro stations
- List of rapid transit systems
- Urban and Suburban Transit Association
[edit] References
- ^ Fodor's Europe, 1979, p. 524
- ^ (Hungarian) Schedule of construction works (original URL) .xls; The file displays fine in OpenOffice.org Calc, but fails to open properly in Microsoft Excel 2003 SP3
[edit] External links
- Budapest Transport Company
- Millennium Underground Museum at Deák tér underpass
- Talking Cities clickable metro map
- The Millennium Subway Line of Budapest (with pictures of the above museum)
- UrbanRail.Net
- Metro4 construction fotos
- Budapest Metro Gallery (pictures taken before 2004, the station reconstructions)
- Budapest Metro
- Site of the forthcoming M4 line, including the history of the existing three metro lines as well (M1, M2, M3)
- metros.hu (daily news, galleries, sounds, maps, arcticles, figures, information etc.)
- metrobudapest.fw.hu (galleries, maps, videos, sounds etc.)
- Subways – Transport (map collection)
- Budapest metro
- Metro Budapest (a fansite)
- Study of the 4th metro line of budapest
- Újpest-Városkapu station from the tracks
- Hungarian Documentary Short about the opening of M2 in 1970
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