Budapest Public transportation - the BKV

MetroPolitan - a bit of history

The widely-recognised Budapest mass transit system,moving generations of city folk with exemplary service since the end of thelast century, is now under reconstruction. In addition to the primary task ofreconstruction, however, every effort must be made to ensure that Budapest willmove forward in the area of new constuction, which will require an even greaterfinancial commitment. Let’s have a look at the past, present and future of theBudapest Metro, the arteries of public city transportation.

M2 – History of the East-West line

The design of the metro basenetwork and the first line started in 1949. In 1950 the Földalatti VasútVállalat, or ’Company for Underground Railways’ was established, a predecessorof the Metro and HÉV directorates, with the duty in those times to organizeinvestments.

Four and a half months followingthis decision, metro construction started with the sinking of a shaft at SzentIstván Square. However, the constraction costs ran so high that in February1954, a government order stopped the construction. The final economic programwas approved in 1963 and Metro construction in Budapest was resumed.Finalization of the first section was envisaged for late 1970, and completionof the whole line in 1973.

M3 – History of the North-South line

In 1963, a government decreeordained the preparation of an investment program to fund the construction ofthe M3, the design documentation for which was finalized in 1966. The designtargeted Újpest vasútállomás and Kispest Vörös Csillag Traktorgyár (Red StarTractor Factory) as terminals of the line. The investment program was passed in1968, and construction started in June 1970. Line alignment and stationlocation were modified in the course of engineering/design, and the line in itsactual state – Kobánya-Kispest to Újpest – was completed in 1990.

M4 – the future of Budapest transport

Budapest’s third largest flow oftraffic across the Danube, which runs from southern Buda through downtown tonortheastern Pest, has until now been without reliable mass transit able topromote long-term viable and sustainable development. The greater part ofsurface public transit is crowded into the Móricz Zsigmond roundabout – innerBartók Béla Ave – Gellért Square route that runs along the natural obstructionposed by Gellért Hill, and unfortunately more frequent mass transportationservice is inadequate because of the permanent traffic congestion. Developmentand transportation in south Buda are very important, because thistransportation zone burdened by the residents of the densely populateddistricts as well as those of the extensive and quickly developing metropolitanarea. The condition of Szabadság Bridge is also a serious problem for the city.The load limit on the bridge, which is a historical monument, makes itunsuitable for tram traffic, and the removal of trams from the bridge isbecoming increasingly necessary.

The planned 7.3-kilometerunderground metro line with ten stations between Kelenföld and Keleti railwaystations will provide south Buda and the downtown area with adequate long-term service in conjunction with thepriorities of urban development. The new line will not only connect two partsof town, it will connect railway stations that accomodate considerable suburbanand international traffic. The two new junctions at Kálvin Square and Keletistation will convert the currently single-centered Budapest metro system into atrue network. As a result, mass transit use will increase, and furtherincreases in car traffic can be offset in the most congested inner districts.

The leadership of Budapestannounced a tender for the acquisition of the new metro trains regarding therenovation of M2 and the construction of M4. They intend to purchase 22 trainsfor the M2 and 15 for the first part of M4, with 7 more to follow once construction of the line to BosnyákSquare has been finished. The tender was won by the French company Alston, and thenovelty of the cars is that they can be walked through; on the M2 line the carswill be driven by one person instead of two, and on M4 there will be anautomatic pilot. An Internet poll was taken to decide the decoration andstyling of the new cars, the winner of which can be seen in the picture here.There will be a red line on the cars of M2 as a decoration and a green line onM4 cars.

With the construction of the fourth metro line, Budapestwill have addition to its transit system, thus solving the existing masstransportation problems in the areas concerned and creating a basis for furtherdevelopment in this century.