[Budapest] Metro 2

[venom6]

The Metro 2 (Officially: M2) is the second line of Budapest Metro. They also call it red Metro. It connects the western Déli pályaudvar, and the eastern Örs vezér tere.
Daily ridership: 451,627.

History
The first plans for the present-day two lines were made in 1942, and the Council of Ministers' decree enacted its building in 1950. Metro 2 was originally planned to connect two major railway stations, Keleti (Eastern) and Déli (Southern) pályaudvar. They wanted to complete it by 1955, but construction was ceased for financial and political reasons from 1954 till 1963. It was finally opened with seven stations on April 4 (a Communist holiday in Hungary) in 1970. A major reconstruction of the track and the stations was undertaken between 2004 and 2008, with new trains what are currently tested.

It runs in an east-west direction, and as yet it is the only line in operation to cross the River Danube and reach Buda (the western part of Budapest). It has a joint station with metro lines 1 and 3 at Deák Ferenc Square, and a future transfer point for the fourth line is under construction at Keleti Pályaudvar station.

* 1970: Deák Ferenc tér - Örs vezér tere
* 1972: Deák Ferenc tér - Déli pályaudvar




A video from 1970 about the construction of the line.

Stations
Déli pályaudvar
Moszkva tér
Batthyány tér
Kossuth Lajos tér
Deák Ferenc tér (M1, M3)
Astoria
Blaha Lujza tér
Keleti pályaudvar (M4)
Stadionok
Pillangó utca
Örs vezér tere

Reconstruction
Metro 2 has undergone major reconstruction, with much of the track and eight stations being ready. Blaha Lujza tér and Kossuth Lajos tér were renovated in 2004; Batthyány tér, Astoria, and Keleti pályaudvar in 2005; and Déli pályaudvar, Moszkva tér, and Deák Ferenc tér in 2006. These are currently the most modern stations in Budapest. The line became completely renovated by the end of 2007. Elevators will be installed in the first phase at stations Kossuth Lajos tér, Blaha Lujza tér, Keleti pályaudvar, and Astoria. Besides, new carriages will be bought which provide air-conditioning. The renovations took place during the summer holidays (up to August 19—the day before the day of Saint Stephen).

















New trains
As they reconstructed the line, they also decided to change the old trains that were from the CCCP. The loud, rusty blue wonders will be replaced by new quiet, clean and white trains. There was an online voting and the 3rd render won!








All trains will be changed on this line to Alstom Metropolis. The first one finally arrived!










A render how it will look like in service on the line M2

http://index.hu/video/2009/02/10/uj_...tag:metr%C3%B3
A short video about the arrival from the first new train. Only in hungarian.

Extension of Metro 2
Recently, the Urban and Suburban Transit Association (Városi és Elővárosi Közlekedési Egyesület) presented a plan to unite line 2 with the HÉV from Gödöllő. The city government did not totally agree with the plan, but it still may go ahead after 2015.

So the possibilities are:
* Connection with the Gödöllő suburban line at Örs Vezér tere
* Extend the line to Kelenföld railway station
* Extend it to Hűvösvölgy on a new line what would go from Moszkva tér


Video about the possible connection with M2 and HÉV Gödöllő. Only in hungarian.

Source: Wikipedia, Építészfórum, metros.hu, index.hu