Budapest Transport Thread

[MagyarDuna]

Budapest Airport Reconstruction

Reconstruction of Ferihegy Terminal 1 has been accomplished by deadline and its technical opening was held yesterday. The oldest terminal of Budapest has revived – and allows handling of 2.5 million passengers a year in a modern but mellow old environment.

The total reconstruction of Ferihegy Terminal 1 has been accomplished by the deadline of 15 July 2005. Demolition works were commenced on 19 October 2004. During the construction the building contractor disposed several ten thousand cubic metres of debris as well as reinforced and reconstructed the building by a steel structure of several hundred tons. By this reconstruction, the building service engineering and electric systems of the building, the connecting public utility conduits, and the air-conditioning were all renewed.

"We worked every day without break with more than five hundred people but the sight speaks for itself " - said bravely István Hollós, Deputy Director of Magyar Építő Rt. in charge of construction referring to the fact that the monument of an area of nearly 24 thousand square metres was reconstructed during a record period of time, nine months.

The reconstruction of the modernist-style building protected as a monument was assisted by many people. "When designing, we had to create as large passenger traffic area as possible, however, we had to preserve the original special atmosphere of the building. It was a tremendous task, however, a good challenge for us" - said Ervin Jaklics, chief designer of the construction.

"We have researched all archive photos and restored everything according to its original state. Similarity is breath-taking. As if we had gone back in time, nevertheless, tradition and modernness is in conformity." - said Zsolt Szécsi, Director of ÁMRK, chief monument designer of the construction.

Subsequent to technical acceptance of the Terminal, Budapest Airport will take the building in possession again and systems and equipment will be tested, as necessary. The parking space in front of the terminal will also be renewed. In the first stage, a parking space of 300 parking lots will be built corresponding to the original state and, simultaneously, it will also be extended.

Current Map & Picture of Terminal 1

[MagyarDuna]

Budapest Metro System - New Lines U/C

Current Map

Description Of The Project

M4 is now in planning stage and will run totally underground between Keleti and Kelenföldi rail stations crossing M3 at Kálvin ter, then under the Danube river to Szt. Gellért ter and south-west through Buda (see link below for details on all stations).

After an uncertain phase it seems that the current government is more likely to support the construction of this line, and they even added another four stations towards the northeast. Construction start is now scheduled for 2004 for completion in 2007-2009.

Line M5 is now being planned underground from Boráros tér to Szépvölgyi út station as a link between two suburban (HEV) lines, with interchange stations to other metro lines at Kálvin tér (Line 3), Astoria (Line 2), Oktogon (Line 1), Lehel tér (Line 3).

Later M3 might be extended northwards from Újpest-Központ to Káposztásmegyer, with 3-5 stations possibly until 2010, since most of the surface track have been laid down about 10 years ago and is currently being used by trams. A southern extension to the Ferihegy Airport has been proposed.

There is also a proposed link between Déli pályaudvar and Kelenföldi pályaudvar, possibly as a surface extension of the M2 using the rail line which will then be abandoned as the Kelenföldi rail station will take over the function of the Déli rail station. This line would have 2 or 3 stops and a terminus at Kelenföldi pályaudvar.

[MagyarDuna]

NEWS - Strike averted in Budapest public transport

In February 2005, following lengthy bargaining and the threat of a strike, the Budapest Transport Company (BKV) and five trade unions reached a pay agreement. In 2005, the workforce will receive a flat-rate wage increase, worth about 8% on average but more than 10% for low-paid workers.

On 10 February 2005, following three weeks of unsuccessful bargaining on the annual wage increase, the five trade unions operating at the Budapest Transport Company (Budapesti Közlekedési Vállalat, BKV), representing almost 90% of the 12,600 employees, decided to hold a strike on 15 February. The unions set up a strike committee and the company started preparations for the half-day long strike that would paralyse the whole capital city, which is badly served by road and rail transport facilities. Although strike threats at BKV are not unprecedented, this was the first time that the five unions had acted in full agreement and a written strike call was issued .

The main objective of the trade unions in the 2005 bargaining round was to diminish wage differentials among employees, which they claimed had grown sharply in recent years. Unions demanded a flat-rate HUF 19,000 (EUR 80) gross increase in monthly pay rather than a percentage rise, which would raise wages by over 10% in low-paid categories and by 5% in higher-paid ones. The management, reminding unions of the HUF 10 billion debt of the company, initially offered a HUF 11,000 monthly increase only, which meant 6% on average, in line with the nationwide recommendation of the National Interest Reconciliation Council (Országos Érdekegyeztető Tanács, OÉT) (HU0501102N). In contrast to the unions’ position, the company wanted to implement a differentiated rate of increase instead of a flat-rate one.

In the meantime, the Budapest Labour Court (Fővárosi Munkaügyi Bíróság) issued a ruling that the proposed strike was lawful. The Strike Law, however, requires the parties to agree on the exact definition of minimum services to be provided during the strike. The lack of such an agreement added fuel to the conflict. While the company insisted on running at least 50% of the services, the unions rejected the idea on grounds of safety regulations and proposed to maintain only a few special bus services for people with disabilities.

Interestingly, Hungary's highly polarised party politics also sharpened the wage conflict. As BKV is owned and mainly financed by the municipality of the capital city, which is dominated by the socialist-liberal coalition parties, the right-wing opposition Alliance of Young Democrats-Hungarian Civic Party (Fiatal Demokraták Szövetsége-Magyar Polgári Szövetség, FIDESZ-MPSZ) took the opportunity to attack the mayor of Budapest, a prominent politician in the Alliance of Free Democrats (Szabad Demokraták Szövetsége, SZDSZ) coalition party.

Both the management and the unions made incremental concessions in the course of negotiations that lasted until early morning on 14 February, when the parties reached agreement on a HUF 16,000 flat-rate gross monthly wage rise, which means an approximately 8% wage increase on average, but more than 10% for low-paid workers. Management said that the agreement adds HUF 400 million to the expected costs of the wage rises planned for 2005, and the expected resulting cost-saving measures would include freezing the salaries of 150 managers at the company.

[thunder head]

show us some hungarian freeways!

[mic of Orion]

great stuff

[Macca-GC]

Just based on that first article about Ferihegy Airport, I'm not sure which terminal we went through but, When I went to Budapest in July, we didn't go through any customs. We collected our baggage and then just walked straight out. There was no scanning, no sniffer dogs, nothing. Why is that??? It just seems really strange to me.

[Macca-GC]

Originally Posted by thunder head

show us some hungarian freeways!

They're actually quite impressive. Not expansive(good), congested(bad) but they are effective(Very Good).

[thunder head]

I'm from Hungary myself so get some photos of Hungarian road infrastructure!

[kucksi]

Originally Posted by Toadman

Just based on that first article about Ferihegy Airport, I'm not sure which terminal we went through but, When I went to Budapest in July, we didn't go through any customs. We collected our baggage and then just walked straight out. There was no scanning, no sniffer dogs, nothing. Why is that??? It just seems really strange to me.

its possible if u came here from an other EU airport but still very strange. u should have taken the opportunity j/k

[sk]

i used to live in budapest for the last 8 years,if there is one that works in this city this is the public transport....you can never be more than 2-3 min away from a bus or some other kind of transport,its really impressive....i still own my appartment which is very close to boraros ter so when the new metro will work i will travel to budapest to check it out!!
budapest has a very efficient public transport system

[mic of Orion]

Originally Posted by thunder head

I'm from Hungary myself so get some photos of Hungarian road infrastructure!

cool, we need more Hungarians here,
there are loads of Croats here look them up in Euro section...

[WotaN]

I've recently heard that Budapest is willing to buy some long Combino trams. Can anyone add sth to that, please?

[ParraMan]

Originally Posted by sk

i used to live in budapest for the last 8 years,if there is one that works in this city this is the public transport....you can never be more than 2-3 min away from a bus or some other kind of transport,its really impressive....i still own my appartment which is very close to boraros ter so when the new metro will work i will travel to budapest to check it out!!
budapest has a very efficient public transport system

Totally agree with you!! This was my biggest surprise in visiting Budapest two months ago. I knew the metro map, and it didn't seem that big, but in real life is very impressive and amazingly busy all the time. Metro line 1 is the oldest metro line in mainland Europe and interesting and quaint. Line 3 is just fantastic and very utilitarian.

The rest of the public transport- trams, HEV, buses all make up an excellent public transport model!

[Justme]

Originally Posted by Toadman

Just based on that first article about Ferihegy Airport, I'm not sure which terminal we went through but, When I went to Budapest in July, we didn't go through any customs. We collected our baggage and then just walked straight out. There was no scanning, no sniffer dogs, nothing. Why is that??? It just seems really strange to me.

How odd, I was in Budapest a couple of months earlier than you, in Easter, and was properly checked. Through customs and scanning. In fact, my checkin luggage caused some alarm bells and I was called in from the waiting area to be met by security police who wanted to check my suitcase. This is the first time my main suitcase has investigated after being checked in, and I've flown countless times.

[Justme]

Originally Posted by ParraMan

Totally agree with you!! This was my biggest surprise in visiting Budapest two months ago. I knew the metro map, and it didn't seem that big, but in real life is very impressive and amazingly busy all the time. Metro line 1 is the oldest metro line in mainland Europe and interesting and quaint. Line 3 is just fantastic and very utilitarian.

The rest of the public transport- trams, HEV, buses all make up an excellent public transport model!

Line 1 is really cute. Tiny small stations, "just" under the street, with lovely short trains and distances between stops. Absolutely loved it, and one of the oldest metro lines in the world (is it 3rd after London and Glasgow?)

Beautifully restored, these photo's simply don't do it justice. You have to be there to really enjoy the history of it.

[hoogbouw010]

All photos taken 22-23 May 2005.

Trolley buses.




Russian style metro.


Tram

[ParraMan]

Excellent pictures!! I have a few but no USB port in computer so can't upload. Was really amazed with line 1 being really just under the street, a couple of steps down and you're there and yep, so tiny and cute are the stations. I really dig the soviet style of the other lines though, the rolling stock and the stations themselves, really gives a big-city feel and of being part of the machinery or something vague...

Anywhere within 5km of the city centre seems to be buzzing 24/7, which amazed me due to the city not being such a huge place. A little off topic I know!

Ferihegy 1 reopened in early november, has a classic feel to it internally, and the outside seems to be close to the original look of the terminal (which I think was out of use for a while?) The bus connection to the closest metro station, Kobanya-Kispest, seems to ba always very crowded, as is the road it travels along. A metro extension to the airport would be great me thinks, using maybe the railway line that currently runs along the route. Really looking forward to seeing something about these other planned/under construction metro expansions. Despite having a great public transport network, Budapest really needs these expansions too.

[kucksi]

there are some plans about a rail link between the 2 airports and the western railway station( nyugati pu.) i really dont know how is it going now...:/
and yes the city center - the 1st 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th and the inner part of 2nd 11th 13th districts - is 24/7 buzzing and there are some main centres in outer district that very lively too every day every time. honestly im living in this city for 13 years now and i always thought that is not a big deal (ive been living in boston which is twice as big as bp however theres less of this "party feeling") but as i meet more and more foreigners who just came here for only a visit and they are still "visiting" the place for years there are a lottsa places where u can hardly hear hungarian language and its more obvious in summer. getting a job is relatively very easy and nobody asks for papers but dont expect much money for it however u dont really realize cos the costs of the party is very low. so if someone wants to have fun for a few months its a perfect place to be. ppl from oversea are also like this place for being in the heart of europe as vienna 3 hours prague 6-7 hours and the croatian cost is 6 hours away by car on motorway. so its not that bad place for a city of 2,5 million in metro.
sorry for being off topic and for the little local patriotism

[Andrew]

I've been to Budapest though it was a while ago, I remember it being quite a nice city, especially the Castle District and Parliament. I rode on the trams but not the metro unfortunately. Isn't it the 2nd or third oldest system in the world or something? That station restoration looks great.