Metro Line M2 (Budapest Metro)

Line 2 (officially: East-West Line, Metro 2 or M2, and unofficially: Red Line) is the second line of the Budapest Metro. The line runs east from Déli pályaudvar in north-central Buda under the Danube to the city center, from where it continues east following the route of Rákóczi út to its terminus at Örs vezér tere.

Metro Line M2
Overview
Type	Rapid transit
System	Budapest Metro
Status	Operational
Termini	Déli pályaudvar Örs vezér tere
Stations	11
Line number	Line 2 ("Red metro")
Operation
Opened	April 2, 1970 (1970-04-02)
Operator(s)	BKV
Technical
Line length	10.3 km (6 mi)[1]
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in)
Electrification	825 V DC
Operating speed	70 km/h[1]
Route map

Metro 2
Déli pályaudvar Széll Kálmán tér Batthyány tér Danube Kossuth Lajos tér Deák Ferenc tér Astoria Blaha Lujza tér Keleti pályaudvar Puskás Ferenc Stadion Pillangó utca Örs vezér tere
Detailed track map 0 18 Déli pályaudvar 1 16 Széll Kálmán tér 3 15 Batthyány tér Danube 4 13 Kossuth Lajos tér 6 11 Deák Ferenc tér 9 10 Astoria 10 8 Blaha Lujza tér 11 6 Keleti pályaudvar 14 4 Puskás Ferenc Stadion 15 2 Pillangó utca 18 0 Örs vezér tere

Prior to the 2014 opening of Line 4, it was the only line that served Buda. Daily ridership is estimated at 451,627.

History

The first plans for the second Budapest metro line were made in 1942, and the Council of Ministers authorised its construction in 1950.[2] Line 2 was originally planned to connect two major railway stations, Keleti (Eastern) and Déli (Southern) pályaudvar. The Council of Ministers wanted to complete the first section by 1954 between Deák Ferenc tér and Népstadion (today Puskás Ferenc Stadion), and the second section by 1955 between Déli pályaudvar and Deák Ferenc tér.[3] Construction was suspended for financial and political reasons from 1954 till 1963.[2] The ruling Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party decided to restart the construction at a party congress in 1959.[3] It was finally opened with seven stations on April 2 (then a Communist holiday in Hungary) in 1970, and the second section in 1972.[2] The eastern end of the line was extended to Örs vezér tere, instead of Népstadion.[2] Operation started in 1970 with 3-car trains, expanded to 4-car trains soon after, and 5-car trains since 1972.[4] A major reconstruction of the track and stations was undertaken between 2004 and 2008, with new trains arriving in 2010. The new trains went into service two years later, in September 2012, and by April 2013 the line was solely served by new trains.

M2 runs in an east-west direction through the city, and it was the first metro line to cross the River Danube and reach Buda (the western part of Budapest).[5] It has a transfer station with Line 1 and Line 3 at Deák Ferenc tér, and a transfer station for Line 4 at Keleti pályaudvar.

Sections[1]	Opened	Length	Stations
Deák Ferenc tér - Örs vezér tere	1970	6.7 km (4 mi)	7
Déli pályaudvar - Deák Ferenc tér	1972	3.6 km (2 mi)	4
Total	1972	10.3 km (6 mi)	11

Stations and connections

Déli pályaudvar – Örs vezér tere
Travel Time min:sec	Station	Travel Time min:sec	Connection	Buildings / Monuments
0:00	Déli pályaudvar	18:25	17, 56, 56A, 59, 59A, 59B, 61 21, 21A, 39, 102, 139, 140, 140A, 142 1256 Hungarian State Railways (MÁV)	Déli pályaudvar
1:40	Széll Kálmán tér	17:00	4, 6, 17, 56, 56A, 59, 59A, 59B, 61 5, 16, 16A, 21, 21A, 22, 22A, 39, 91, 102, 116, 128, 129, 139, 140, 140A, 142, 149, 155, 156, 222 782, 783, 784, 785, 786, 787, 789, 794, 795	Post Palace Budapest, Városmajor
3:27	Batthyány tér	15:12	19, 41 11, 39, 109, 111	Batthyány tér Batthyány tér Market Hall
4:55	Kossuth Lajos tér	13:45	2 70, 78, City 15, 115	Kossuth Lajos tér Hungarian Parliament Building, Ethnographic Museum
6:55	Deák Ferenc tér	11:50	47, 48, 49 9, 16, 100E, 105	Deák Ferenc tér Town Hall, Metro Museum (Földalatti Vasúti Múzeum), St. Stephen's Basilica
8:35	Astoria	10:07	47, 47B, 48, 49 74 5, 7, 8E, 9, 108E, 110, 112, 133E, 178	ELTE-Faculty of Humanities (BTK), Danubius Hotel Astoria, Dohány Street Synagogue
10:02	Blaha Lujza tér	8:40	4, 6, 28, 28A, 37, 37A, 62 74 5, 7, 7E, 8E, 99, 108E, 110, 112, 133E, 178, 217E	Boscolo Budapest Hotel
11:50	Keleti pályaudvar	6:50	24 73, 76, 78, 79, 80, 80A 5, 7, 7E, 8E, 20E, 30, 30A, 108E, 110, 112, 133E, 178, 230 Hungarian State Railways (MÁV)	Keleti pályaudvar Arena Plaza
14:35	Puskás Ferenc Stadion ♿	4:07	1 75, 77, 80, 80A 95, 130, 195 396, 397, 398, 399, 485, 486, 2100, 2102, 2103, 2104, 2105, 2106, 2107, 2110, 2111, 2112, 2113, 2114 1020, 1021, 1024, 1031, 1032, 1034, 1035, 1037, 1039, 1040, 1045, 1046, 1049, 1050, 1052, 1054, 1057, 1059, 1060, 1061, 1063, 1067, 1068, 1069, 1070, 1071, 1075, 1076, 1077, 1078, 1520	Ferenc Puskás Stadium, László Papp Budapest Sports Arena, Kisstadion
16:25	Pillangó utca ♿	2:10	100	Kincsem Park
19:25	Örs vezér tere ♿	0:00	3, 62, 62A 80, 81, 82 31, 32, 44, 45, 67, 85, 85E, 97E, 100, 131, 144, 161, 161A, 168E, 169E, 174, 176E, 231, 244, 261E, 276E, 277 1002 484, 485, 486, 490, 505, 510, 2104, 2105, 2107, 2110 1040, 1049, 1070, 1075, 1077, 1078	Örs vezér tere Árkád Budapest

Gallery

• 
  Déli pályaudvar
• 
  Széll Kálmán tér
• 
  Széll Kálmán tér
• 
  Batthyány tér
• 
  Batthyány tér
• 
  Batthyány tér
• 
  Kossuth Lajos tér
• 
  Deák Ferenc tér
• 
  Deák Ferenc tér
• 
  Deák Ferenc tér
• 
  Deák Ferenc tér
• 
  Keleti pályaudvar
• 
  Keleti pályaudvar
• 
  Alstom Metropolis train at Keleti pályaudvar
• 
  Puskás Ferenc Stadion
• 
  Pillangó utca
• 
  Örs vezér tere
• 
  Örs vezér tere

References

1. Árpád Bodnár: A budapesti metró két évtizede ("Two decades of the Budapest Metro"), Városi Közlekedés, Year XXXI, Vol. 3, pp. 119-121, Budapest, 1991
2. András Koós: A 2-es metróvonal infrastruktúrájának korszerűsítése ("Modernization of the Line 2"), Városi Közlekedés, Year XL, Vol. 2, pp. 85, Budapest, 2000
3. Ágnes Medveczky Kovácsyné: 25 éves a budapesti metró ("Budapest Metro is 25 years old"), BKV, Budapest, 1995
4. Botond Aba: 30 éves a budapesti metró ("Budapest Metro is 30 years old"), Városi Közlekedés, Year XL, Vol. 2, pp. 71, Budapest, 2000
5. Budapest City Atlas, Dimap-Szarvas, Budapest, 2011, ISBN 978-963-03-9124-5