Budapest Metro

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Budapest Metro

Top: Örs vezér tere terminus of Red Line 2 Bottom: Green Line 4, a driverless metro line with real-time PIDS system at Kálvin tér, a transfer station to Blue Line 3
Overview
Native name	Budapesti metró
Owner	Capital City of Budapest
Locale	Budapest, Hungary
Transit type	Rapid transit
Number of lines	4
Number of stations	48
Daily ridership	1.27 million (2009)[1]
Annual ridership	232.8 million (2020)[2]
Website	BKK Public Transport
Operation
Began operation	2 May 1896
Operator(s)	Centre for Budapest Transport Budapest Transport Ltd. (BKV)
Technical
System length	39.7 km (24.7 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) (standard gauge)
Top speed	80 km/h (50 mph)[3]
showSystem map Legend Újpest-Központ Újpest-Városkapu Gyöngyösi utca Forgách utca Göncz Árpád Városközpont Dózsa György út Mexikói út Lehel tér Széchényi fürdő Nyugati pályaudvar Hősök tere Arany János utca Bajza utca Kodály körönd Déli pályaudvar Vörösmarty utca Széll Kálmán tér Oktogon Batthyány tér Opera Kossuth Lajos tér Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út Deák Ferenc tér Vörösmarty tér Astoria Ferenciek tere Blaha Lujza tér Keleti pályaudvar II. János Pál pápa tér Puskás Ferenc Stadion Rákóczi tér Pillangó utca Kálvin tér Örs vezér tere Fővám tér Szent Gellért tér Corvin-negyed Móricz Zsigmond körtér Klinikák Újbuda-központ Nagyvárad tér Bikás park Népliget Kelenföld vasútállomás Ecseri út Pöttyös utca Határ út Kőbánya–Kispest Up and down correspond roughly to north and south, respectively This diagram: view talk

The Budapest Metro (Hungarian: Budapesti metró) is the rapid transit system in the Hungarian capital Budapest. It is the oldest underground railway system in continental Europe, and is only pre-dated by the London Underground.^[4] Budapest's iconic Line 1 was completed in 1896.^[5][6]

The M1 line became an IEEE Milestone due to the radically new innovations in its era: "Among the railway’s innovative elements were bidirectional tram cars; electric lighting in the subway stations and tram cars; and an overhead wire structure instead of a third-rail system for power."^[7] Since 2002, the M1 line was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.^[8]

History[]

Old surface alignment of Millennium Underground at Heroes' Square

An old image of the first metro line on Andrássy Avenue

A train in 1896

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Siemens-Halske, Budapest metro museum
Official name	Andrássy Avenue and the Underground
Location	Budapest, Hungary
Part of	Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue
Criteria	Cultural: (ii), (iv)
Reference	400bis-002
Inscription	1987 (11th Session)
Extensions	2002
Area	57.85 ha (0.2234 sq mi)
Buffer zone	239.61 ha (0.9251 sq mi)
Website	https://www.bkv.hu/
Coordinates	47°29′19″N 19°5′13″E / 47.48861°N 19.08694°E / 47.48861; 19.08694
Location of Budapest Metro in Hungary Budapest Metro (Budapest) Show map of HungaryShow map of BudapestShow all

The original metro line 1 (Földalatti) ran for 5 km from Vörösmarty tér to Széchenyi fürdő^[9] (from Hungarian föld "earth, ground", alatt "under"; so "the underground"). The M1 Line was inaugurated on May 2, 1896, the year of the millennium (the thousandth anniversary of the arrival of the Magyars), by emperor Franz Joseph.^[10] It was named "Franz Joseph Underground Electric Railway Company".

Work on line 2 started in the 1950s, although the first section did not open until 1970. It follows an east–west route, connecting the major Keleti (Eastern) and Déli (Southern) railway stations.^[9]

Planning for Line 3 began in 1963 and construction started in 1970 with help of Soviet specialists.^{[citation needed]} The first section, consisting of six stations, opened in 1976. It was extended to the south in 1980 with five additional stations, and to the north in 1981, 1984, and 1990, with nine additional stations. With a length of approximately 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) and a total of 20 stations, it is the longest line in Budapest.^{[citation needed]}

In the 1980s and 1990s, Line 1 underwent major reconstruction. Of its 11 stations, eight are original and three were added during reconstruction. The original appearance of the old stations has been preserved, and each station feature displays of historical photographs and information. There is also a Millennium Underground Museum in the Deák Ferenc Square concourse.^{[citation needed]}

Construction of the fourth Metro line began in 2004.^[11]

Routes[]

The metro consists of four lines (M1–M4), each denoted by a different colour. M1 (yellow) Földalatti runs from Mexikói út south-west towards the river. The M2 (red) line travels east–west through the city, crossing the Danube. The M3 (blue) runs in a broadly north–south alignment, interchanging with the three other lines. The M4 (green) line commences at Keleti pályaudvar and travels south-west, crossing the river, to terminate at Kelenföld vasútállomás.^[9]

Line	Color	Name and Route	Year of opening	Length (km)	Number of stations
	Yellow	Line M1 (Vörösmarty tér ↔ Mexikói út)[12]	1896	4.4	11
	Red	Line 2 (Déli pályaudvar ↔ Örs vezér tere)[13]	1970	10.3	11
	Blue	Line 3 (Újpest-Központ ↔ Kőbánya-Kispest)[14]	1976	17.3	20
	Green	Line 4 (Keleti pályaudvar ↔ Kelenföld vasútállomás)[15]	2014	7.3	10
Total:				39.4	52

Metro line M1[]

Metro Line 2 at Örs vezér tere terminus

Line 1 runs northeast from the city centre on the Pest side under Andrássy út to the Városliget, or City Park. Like Metro 3, it does not serve Buda. Line 1, the oldest of the metro lines operating in Budapest, has been in constant operation since 1896. There are plans for the future for a resurrection with more stations.^[16]

Metro line M2[]

Line 2 runs east–west from Déli pályaudvar in Buda's Krisztinaváros, through the city center, to Örs vezér tere in eastern Pest. It offers connections to Hungarian State Railways at Déli and Keleti pályaudvars, to metro Lines 1 and 3 at Deák Ferenc tér, to line 4 at Keleti pályaudvar, to suburban railway lines 8 and 9 at Örs vezér tere, and to suburban railway line 5 at Batthyány tér. Prior to line 4's opening, it was (for more than 45 years) the only metro line that served the Buda side of the river. Line 2 underwent major reconstruction in the late oughts, with all of the track and stations completed in 2008.^{[citation needed]}

Metro line M3[]

Blue Line 3 Göncz Árpád Városközpont

Line 3 runs in a north–south direction (more exactly, from north-northeast to southeast) on the Pest side of the river and connects several populous residential areas with the Inner City.^[17] 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. It is the longest line in the Budapest Metro, its daily ridership is estimated at 610,000.^[18] Metro line 3 had not been renovated since its inauguration in 1976, although an automatic train drive system was introduced in 1990.^[19] Between 2017 and 2022, the planned upgrades will include renewing the stations, rebuilding the track, safety equipment, ventilation and tunnel insulation. The design works are entirely funded by the European Union under the New Széchenyi Plan. The project also includes a possible extension of the metro line to Káposztásmegyer.^[20]

Metro line M4[]

Móricz Zsigmond körtér station on Green Line 4 (opened in 2014)

Line 4 runs southwest–northeast from Kelenföldi pályaudvar in Buda's Kelenföld neighborhood to Keleti Railway Station in Józsefváros. With a length of 7.4 kilometres (4.6 mi), it connects to Hungarian State Railways at its termini, to the metro's Line 3 at Kálvin tér, and to Line 2 at Keleti. Line 4 was completed in March 2014 and comprises ten stations.^[21]

Future expansion[]

Metro line M5[]

The green ones are the existing H5, 6 and 7 lines, the red ones are the proposed connections under the city to form the Purple Line 5, and the blue lines are existing railway lines that could also be connected

The Purple Line 5 is a proposed north–south railway tunnel to connect the currently separated elements of the suburban rail network, namely the , and H7 HÉV-lines, and optionally the Budapest-Esztergom and Budapest-Kunszentmiklós-Tass railway lines. Currently the project does not have mainstream political support, only included in long-term plans. The first phase (planned until 2030)^[22] would be the extension and connection of the southern H6 and H7 lines to the Astoria metro station via the Kálvin tér, thus connecting these lines to the metro lines M2 M3 and M4. The second phase would create a connection to the metro line M1 as well at the Oktogon, the M3 at Lehel tér then cross the Danube to the Buda side to connect the H5 HÉV towards Szentendre.^{[citation needed]}

General information[]

Tickets and transfer system[]

The usual BKK tickets and passes can be used on all lines. Single tickets can be re-used when changing metro lines.^[23]

There are plans for an automated fare collection system.^[24] A contract for a system was signed in 2014,^[25] but terminated in 2018 without completion.^[26]

In popular culture[]

The internationally acclaimed 2003 Hungarian thriller Kontroll is set and was filmed in the metro system.

A scene in John Huston's 1981 film Escape to Victory features the historic Metro Line 1 as the Paris Métro in the 1940s.

A long fight sequence in the 2003 action film Underworld was filmed in the Budapest Metro.

Nyugati pályaudvar metro station also appears in the 2021 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Black Widow.

Network Map[]

See also[]

• List of metro systems
• List of automated urban metro subway systems

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Metro (Budapest).

• Budapest Metro Map 2016–17 on Google earth with geolocation
• BKK Zrt. – official website
• Budapest Metro Track map
• Budapest at UrbanRail.net
• Budapest Metro Map