Line 3 (Budapest Metro)

Line 3
Overview
Stations 20
Line number Line 3 ("Blue metro")
Technical
Line length 16.5 km (10 mi)[1]
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification 825 V DC
Operating speed 80 km/h[2]
Route map

Metro 3

Legend
 Újpest-Központ
 Újpest-Városkapu HSR (MÁV)
 Gyöngyösi utca
 Forgách utca
 Árpád híd
 Dózsa György út
 Lehel tér
 Nyugati pályaudvar HSR (MÁV)
 Arany János utca
 Deák Ferenc tér
Ferenciek tere

 Kálvin tér
Corvin-negyed
 Klinikák
 Nagyvárad tér
 Népliget
 Ecseri út
 Pöttyös utca
 Határ út

 Kőbánya-Kispest HSR (MÁV)
 Detailed track map 
0
31
 Újpest-Központ
1
29
 Újpest-Városkapu HSR (MÁV)
3
27
 Gyöngyösi utca
5
25
 Forgách utca

7
24
 Árpád híd
8
22
 Dózsa György út
10
21
 Lehel tér
11
19
 Nyugati pályaudvar HSR (MÁV)
13
17
 Arany János utca

15
16
 Deák Ferenc tér
16
14
 Ferenciek tere
17
13
 Kálvin tér
19
11
 Corvin-negyed
20
10
 Klinikák
22
8
 Nagyvárad tér

24
7
 Népliget
26
5
 Ecseri út
27
4
 Pöttyös utca

29
2
 Határ út

31
0
 Kőbánya-Kispest HSR (MÁV)

The Metro 3 (Officially: M3, North-South Line, Unofficially: Blue Line) is the longest line of Budapest Metro. It runs in a general north-south direction parallel to the Danube on the Pest side, roughly following Váci út south from Újpest to the city center, then following the route of Üllői út southeast to Kőbánya-Kispest. Its daily ridership is estimated at 626,179. Like Metro 1, it does not serve Buda.

History

The first decree for the third line was made in 1968,[3] construction started in 1970, the first section was opened in 1976 with six stations. The 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 and 16.5 km (10 mi), the longest line in Budapest.[2][3] Soviet-made 81-717/714 carriages (prevalent in many Eastern Bloc metro systems) operate on this line. Operation started with 4 units in 1976, expanded to 6 units in 1984.[4] Six unit-trains provide space for 1,097 people.[1] It was planned for a daily ridership of 800,000 people.[1]

M3 runs in a north-south direction (more exactly, from north-northeast to southeast) through the city and connects several populous microraion with the downtown.[5] It has a transfer station with Line 1 and Line 2 at Deák Ferenc tér, and a transfer station for Line 4 at Kálvin tér.

Sections[2][3] Opened Length Stations
Deák Ferenc tér - Nagyvárad tér 31 December 1976 4.1 km (3 mi) 6
Nagyvárad tér - Kőbánya-Kispest 29 March 1980 4.9 km (3 mi) 5
Deák Ferenc tér - Lehel tér 30 December 1981 2.4 km (1 mi) 3
Lehel tér - Árpád híd 5 November 1984 1.7 km (1 mi) 2
Árpád híd - Újpest-Központ 14 December 1990 3.4 km (2 mi) 4
Total 14 December 1990 16.5 km (10 mi) 20

Stations and connections

Station Connection Buildings/Monuments
Kőbánya-Kispest MÁV
68, 85, 85E, 93, 93A, 98, 98E, 136E, 148, 151, 182, 184, 193E,
200E, 201E, 202E, 282E, 284E
Határ út 42, 50, 52
66, 66E, 84E, 89E, 94E, 99, 123, 123A, 194, 194B, 199
Pöttyös utca
Ecseri út 3
181, 281
Népliget 1, 1A
103, 254E		 Népliget, Stadion Albert Flórián
Nagyvárad tér 24
281		 Semmelweis University, Natural History Museum, Ludovica Military Academy
Klinikák SOTE Clinic
Corvin-negyed 4, 6 Museum of Applied Arts
Kálvin tér
47, 48, 49
83
9, 15, 115 		Fővárosi Szabó Ervin Könyvtár, Hungarian National Museum
Ferenciek tere 2
5, 7, 8, 15, 107, 110, 112, 115, 133, 178, 233, 239
Deák Ferenc tér ,
47, 48, 49
9, 15, 16, 105, 115 		Deák Ferenc tér, Town Hall, Metro Museum (Földalatti Vasút Múzeum)
Arany János utca 72, 73
9 		St. Stephen's Basilica
Nyugati pályaudvar MÁV
4-6 (tram replacement), 6 (tram replacement), 9, 26, 91, 191, 226, 291 		Nyugati pályaudvar, WestEnd City Center
Lehel tér 14
76
15, 115 		Lehel csarnok
Dózsa György út 75, 79
Árpád híd 1, 1A
26, 32, 34, 106, 115, 120
Forgách utca 32
Gyöngyösi utca 15, 105
Újpest-Városkapu MÁV
104, 104A, 121, 122, 196, 196A, 204
Újpest-Központ 14
12 (tram replacement), 14 (tram replacement), 14E (tram replacement), 25, 30, 30A, 104, 104A, 147, 170, 196, 196A, 204, 220, 230, 270

Planned Reconstruction

Mayor of Budapest Gábor Demszky was warned in 2006[6] by BKV that the line would soon need reconstruction, but no steps towards this were made before the new mayor István Tarlós took office in 2010. The trains started burning or smoking multiple times, but this has caused neither fatalities nor serious injuries as of yet. Tarlós reacted by ordering the retirement of all trains that were more than 40 years old. He also started the reconstruction of the tracks, because they were also reported as hazardous. In 2014 the mayor's administration finished laying out the plans for the complete reconstruction of the line and Viktor Orbán's government allowed the local government to finance the reconstruction of the trains by taking up loans. Repayment of the loans was guaranteed by the national government in case the local government was not able to pay. Currently choosing the finance model of the line's complete reconstruction is under examination by both governments, this will be finalized by autumn of 2014.

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 András Koós - Tamás Szirmay - Jenő Tiborcz: A budapesti 3-as metróvonal új szakasza ("The new section of Budapest Metro Line 3"), Városi Közlekedés, Year XXXI, Vol. 1, pp. 126-127, Budapest, 1991
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Árpád Bodnár: A budapesti metró két évtizede ("Two decades of the Budapest Metro"), Városi Közlekedés, Year XXXI, Vol. 3, pp. 119-121, Budapest, 1991
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Ágnes Medveczky Kovácsyné: 25 éves a budapesti metró ("Budapest Metro is 25 years old"), BKV, Budapest, 1995
  4. ↑ Botond Aba: 30 éves a budapesti metró ("Budapest Metro is 30 years old"), Városi Közlekedés, Year XL, Vol. 2, pp. 71, Budapest, 2000
  5. ↑ Budapest City Atlas, Dimap-Szarvas, Budapest, 2011, ISBN 978-963-03-9124-5
  6. ↑ "Announcement about the state of Metro Line 3 by Budapest Mass Transport Company˝".