Dozens of Budapest tram, trolleybus, bus timetables changed ‘secretly’!

The Budapest Transport Company (BKK) changed the timetables of several tram, trolleybus and bus lines in Budapest without informing the passengers in advance. Katalin Walter, the company’s CEO, acknowledged they made a mistake and apologised. Meanwhile, Gergely Karácsony, the mayor of Budapest, highlighted that the measure is not a frequency reduction even though he admitted the opposite. An opposition party already started to collect signatures against BKK’s decision. The issue may became an integral part of the 2024 municipal election campaign.

We wrote HERE that the BKK, Budapest’s transport company, modified the timetables of dozens of popular Budapest trams and buses on 19 January. We wrote that they would run less frequently in the rush hours. Even though they must inform passengers 14 days before the modifications enter into force, they kept the decision secret until 18 January.

On Thursday, BKK uploaded a statement on their official website informing people about the decision, but they did not share the number of buses and trams the modification affects. That happened only later that day and in small details. It seemed they would like to confuse both the passengers and the media about the scale of the modification. Moreover, the new system entered into effect on Friday morning. Below, you may find the 53 lines affected.

On Mondays, the follow-up time on these lines will increase by 0.5-1 minute during the rush hours:

• Buses: 7E, 9, 11, 20E, 67, 85, 85E, 122E, 123A, 133E, 139, 142E, 148, 159, 161E, and 220.
• Trolleybuses: 70, 74, 75, 78.
• Tram nr 50.

On Fridays, the follow-up time on these lines will increase by 1-1.5 minutes during the rush hours:

• Buses: 5, 7E, 8E, 9, 11, 20E, 29, 30, 30A, 35, 36, 67, 85-ös, 85E, 95, 99, 102, 107, 108E, 110, 111, 112, 122E, 133E, 139, 142E, 148, 152, 159, 161E, 176E, 182, 182A, 184, 196, 196A, 220, 223E, 224, 224E, 276E, 282E, and 284E.
• Trolleybuses: 70, 74, 75, 78, 80, 81.
• Trams: 1, 1A, 14, 50.

Timetable changes cause outcry

According to Gergely Karácsony, the mayor of Budapest, the reason behind the modification was the changed travel habits of the people. NGOs criticised the decision because the lines affected are popular, so the frequency decrease resulted in a significant deterioration of the travel experience.