Hungary’s public transport system fundamentally changes: new travelcards introduced

From May, the Hungarian government introduces new types of travelcards enabling passengers to travel by train and bus on every inland line in Hungary except for the municipal ones. Moreover, the travelcard will have a favourable price, especially if you are a student. Below, you may read the details.

Two new travelcards announced

PM Viktor Orbán announced the new travelcard scheme in his state of the nation speech yesterday afternoon. Afterwards, the relevant government decree appeared, clearing the details concerning two new travelcard types.

The national travelcard will enable you to travel on every Hungarian bus and train line operated by the MÁV-Start, MÁV-HÉV, GYSEV railway companies and the Volánbusz national bus firm, turizmus.com wrote. The only exceptions are the municipal lines. That means you will still have to buy your Budapest monthly pass. Meanwhile, from 1 May, you will be able to use county travelcards.

The latter will allow you to use bus and train lines in a given county. It will cost HUF 9,450 (EUR 24.6). However, students will get a 90 percent reduction, so they will only have to pay HUF 945 (EUR 2.5). The national 30-day travelcard will be HUF 18,900 (EUR 49.15), which is HUF 2,500 less than the current 30 km travelcard. Meanwhile, students will receive a 90 percent reduction, so they will only have to pay HUF 1890 (EUR 5) to travel for 30 days in Hungary.

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Competitive prices

The Hungarian press did not write anywhere that the new rules do not apply to foreigners. That means even tourists will be able to buy the new travelcard types. As a result, a foreign student will be able to commute in Hungary for 30 days for only EUR 5. Furthermore, a foreign family of 4 (2 adults, 2 children) will only have to pay EUR 110 to travel everywhere in Hungary for a month. We do believe the offer is quite fair if you want to spend a magical summer holiday in Hungary with your loved ones and visit everything worth seeing here.

Of course, you will not be able to travel first class with the travelcard. Furthermore, you will still have to buy municipal travelcards to use the services of the BKK, Budapest’s transport company.

Moreover, Hungarian employers will refund 86 percent of the travelcard. In the case of county travelcard, you will only have to pay HUF 1,300 (EUR 3.38), while that sum will be HUF 2,600 (EUR 6.8) provided you opt for the national version.

You can buy the travelcards at the MÁV-Start, GYSEV and Volánbusz cashdesks, in the MÁV app and on the buses.

VEKE, a Hungarian interest protection organisation active in transport issues, harshly criticised the initiative. They said it was not like the ‘Deutschlandticket’ or ‘German ticket’, including the municipal transport system. Therefore, it is not appropriate to create a universal scheme. Furthermore, the cost was defined randomly. The only aim was to remain lower than the Budapest monthly pass (HUF 9,500). The new ticket type will destroy municipal transport systems since people will use the national lines, which will be much cheaper even though they will have a limited number of stops in the municipalities and Budapest. As a result, the step may mean another nail in the coffin of the opposition-led local councils.