Orbán cabinet purges Budapest ticket, pass scheme: chaos may come in March

The Budapest pass scheme was introduced in the capital in the middle of the 2000s and revolutionised public transport. Thanks to that, you do not buy separate tickets or passes for MÁV and HÉV trains or Volán buses with which you may travel within Budapest. That makes life easier for many commuters living in the capital’s outer districts or in the suburbs. Now, that scheme might end because of a government-Budapest dispute.

Chaos may come in Budapest if the scheme is executed

To cut things short, two agreements regulate the Budapest unified travel scheme. The scheme allows everybody to use MÁV and HÉV trains and every Volán bus carrying passengers in Budapest for only HUF 9,500 (EUR 25) a month or with a single ticket for HUF 450, time-based tickets or travelcards, etc. HERE you can check out all the current types and prices.

The system makes life easier because you do not have to wait for BKV (Budapest Transport Company) buses e.g. in the outer districts, but can use a Volán bus. Furthermore, you may travel from Budapest Nyugati railway station to Kőbánya-Kispest or even Ferihegy station with your Budapest monthly pass. You do not have to buy separate tickets for the train operated by the Hungarian State Railways (MÁV) or the state-owned Volánbusz.

As a result, Budapest’s public transport system is one of the best in Europe because vehicles commute frequently, helping you get home or to your workplace.

Furthermore, if e.g. the Csepel HÉV trains cannot commute, it is not the Volánbusz that has to redirect replacement buses but the BKK. As a result, buses arrive earlier to help passengers out.

Finally, BKK (Budapest Transport Centre) created the Budapest GO app and its different passenger information systems and travel calculation aiding software based on the integrated public transport system.

And that is what might come to an end this March.

Dispute between Budapest and the ministry

That may come after a financial dispute between the government and the leadership of Budapest. Budapest paid HUF 6,9 billion (EUR 17.2 million) to MÁV and Volánbusz to maintain the above-mentioned service in 2016. That sum would have increased to HUF 8.6 billion (EUR 22.74 million) last year, but the leadership of Budapest did not accept that.

Meanwhile, the government pays HUF 12 billion (EUR 31.75 million) to Budapest as a public transport normative support and its role as a transport organiser, etc, telex.hu wrote. The latter’s main reason is that only Budapest maintains a complex public transport system, including metros. Operating the metro lines is very expensive.

Katalin Watler, the CEO of BKK, said they did not receive an offer to continue to operate the system after 31 December 2023 from the transport ministry. That is when the relevant contracts signed in 2016 ended.

Government-close index.hu leaked the ministry’s intention to terminate the Budapest monthly pass scheme last December. Afterwards, quick work started. As a result, the BKK could sign some contracts with MÁV, MÁV-HÉV and Volánbusz in which they agreed to continue the service until its costs reached the public national procurement limit of such activities. That is what will happen this March. After that, based on the EU rules, the Hungarian government no longer can order the service because it would be a prohibited monetary financing.

Negotiations will start next week

According to 444.hu, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony and transport minister János Lázár will negotiate the financial clearance for the year 2022 next week. However, the media outlet highlighted the future of the Budapest pass scheme will not be among the topics.

Public outcry regarding the issue is considerable. Dávid Vitézy, former Hungarian transport secretary, a relative of PM Orbán and a possible Fidesz mayoral candidate for Budapest, said the termination of the Budapest pass scheme would drive back the capital’s public transport to the “Middle Ages”. Therefore, he seemed committed to saving the system and offered his help in a Facebook post.

According to index.hu, due to the devastated state of HÉV trains, the ministry will reduce their travel frequency on the Szentendre (H5) and Ráckeve (H6) lines. Since the transport organisation agreements between the government and Budapest are no longer valid, Budapest will not have any influence on that decision even though it affects the travelling of the locals. Furthermore, Ákos Krakkó, transport ministry spokesman, said they would develop national tariffs. János Lázár will announce the details, Krakkó added.

Read also:

• EXCLUSIVE – Shareholder’s warning: Budapest Airport’s purchase may not happen – Read more HERE
• Attention! Major change coming to the Hungarian-Slovakian border in weeks