Budapest public transport to become drastically more expensive due to disagreement between public bodies

As we reported, the Ministry of Construction and Transport (ÉKM) is planning to withdraw MÁV and Volán services from Budapest. If this really happens, it will make public transport in Budapest much more expensive and worse.

As we reported earlier today, the ÉKM said it will not renew the hybrid transport contract with the capital after Budapest owes HUF 2 billion. Without the contract, it will not be possible to travel on MÁV, Volán and HÉV lines with BKK tickets and passes, and the management and coordination of the lines will also be discontinued.

Now, BKK (Budapest Transport Centre) released a statement concerning the news. The ÉKM’s plan could lead to

double season tickets, increasingly expensive public transport, the cancellation of HÉV replacement services, the end of single ticket and pass purchase, the decline of digital passenger information and the disconnection of the capital and the agglomeration,

the statement reads.

Major negative changes

As of 31 December 2023, the ÉKM will not extend the hybrid transport contract under which BKK tickets and season tickets are accepted on MÁV, HÉV and Volán trains, among others. In addition to a common ticket and pass system, the contract provided a unified transport network, harmonised timetables, transfer points, common stops and terminals, and unified traffic management for the hundreds of thousands of people who commuted daily between Budapest and the surrounding municipalities, vg.hu writes.

In addition, many people in the capital also used the MÁV or HÉV trains. For instance, the railway line between Ferihegy (where Budapest Airport is) and Nyugati railway station offered a good alternative to buses and the metro for people living in the outer districts.

Those travelling with HÉV will be the most disadvantaged

In a statement, BKK said that the decision of the ÉKM is the biggest problem for those who used to use the HÉV trains on a daily basis. This is the case for the entire area of Csepel or the northern part of Óbuda, including the residential area of Békásmegyer.

In these areas, large housing estates housing tens of thousands of people were built decades ago in such a way that the city centre is most conveniently and quickly reached by HÉV.

They added that the change would make it take much longer than at present to resolve traffic disruptions on the HÉV lines, as, for example, in the event of an accident, vehicles would have to be re-routed from another Volánbus operated service.

Read also:

• MÁV and Volán to withdraw from Budapest: public transport in capital changes fundamentally
• Important changes in public transport services over festive period in Hungary