Metro Line M3 (Budapest Metro)

Line 3 (Officially: North-South Line, Metro 3 or M3, and unofficially: Blue Line) is the third and longest line of the Budapest Metro. It runs in a general north-south direction parallel to the Danube on the Pest side, roughly following Váci út south from Újpest to the city center, then following the route of Üllői út southeast to Kőbánya-Kispest. Its daily ridership is estimated at 626,179. Like Line 1, it does not serve Buda.

Metro Line M3
Overview
Type	Rapid transit
System	Budapest Metro
Status	Operational
Termini	Nagyvárad tér Újpest-Központ
Stations	20 (9 closed)
Line number	Line 3 ("Blue metro")
Operation
Opened	December 31, 1976 (1976-12-31)
Operator(s)	BKV
Technical
Line length	16.5 km (10 mi)[1]
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in)
Electrification	825 V DC
Operating speed	80 km/h[2]
Route map

Metro 3
Újpest-központ Újpest-városkapu Gyöngyösi utca Forgách utca Göncz Árpád városközpont Dózsa György út Lehel tér Nyugati pályaudvar Arany János utca Deák Ferenc tér Ferenciek tere Kálvin tér Corvin-negyed Semmelweis Klinikák Nagyvárad tér M3 replacement bus Népliget Ecseri út Pöttyös utca Határ út Kőbánya-Kispest
Detailed track map 0 31 Újpest-központ 1 29 Újpest-városkapu 3 27 Gyöngyösi utca 5 25 Forgách utca 7 24 Göncz Árpád városközpont 8 22 Dózsa György út 10 21 Lehel tér 11 19 Nyugati pályaudvar 13 17 Arany János utca 15 16 Deák Ferenc tér 16 14 Ferenciek tere 17 13 Kálvin tér 19 11 Corvin-negyed 20 10 Semmelweis Klinikák 22 8 Nagyvárad tér 24 7 Népliget 26 5 Ecseri út 27 4 Pöttyös utca 29 2 Határ út 31 0 Kőbánya-Kispest

Refurbished train coming into the Kőbánya-Kispest terminus

History

The first decree for the third line was made in 1968.[3] Construction started in 1970, and the first section was opened in 1976 with six stations. It was extended five stations to the south in 1980, and to the north in 1981, 1984 and 1990 with eventually nine extra stations, reaching its current length of 20 stations and 16.5 km (10 mi), the longest line in Budapest.[2][3] Soviet-made 81-717/714 carriages (as in many Eastern Bloc metro systems) operate on this line. Operation started with 4-car trains in 1976, expanded to 6-car trains in 1984.[4] Six-car trains provide space for 1,097 people.[1] It was planned for a daily ridership of 800,000 people.[1]

Line 3 runs in a north-south direction (more exactly, from north-northeast to southeast) through the city and connects several populous microraion with the downtown.[5] It has a transfer station with Line 1 and Line 2 at Deák Ferenc tér, and a transfer station for Line 4 at Kálvin tér.

Ongoing reconstruction

The Mayor of Budapest Gábor Demszky was warned in 2006[6] by BKV that the line would soon need reconstruction, but no steps towards this were made before the new mayor István Tarlós took office in 2010. Some trains were prone to burning or smoking issues, but this has caused neither fatalities nor serious injuries so far. Tarlós reacted by ordering the retirement of all trains that were more than 40 years old. He also started the reconstruction of the tracks, because they were reported as hazardous. In 2014 the mayor's administration published the plans for the complete reconstruction of the line and Viktor Orbán's government allowed the local government to finance the reconstruction of the trains by taking up loans. Repayment of the loans was guaranteed by the national government in case the municipal government was not able to pay. The municipal government requested EU funds to finance the reconstruction of the underground infrastructure (tunnels and stations), and the national government guaranteed that it would provide additional financing in case insufficient EU funds were obtained.

In January 2016 the first train for reconstruction was handed over to the Russian Metrowagonmash (the original manufacturer).[7] Tarlós had preferred buying new trains, but was overruled by the Orbán government.[8] The prototype of the reconstructed trains entered service on March 20, 2017.[9] From then on, the number of reconstructed trains serving the line was scheduled to increase by 2 trains every month.

On September 4, 2017 contracts for reconstructing the tunnel and stations of the northern section were signed. The stations were to be finished by December 31, 2018, but in fact they were only reopened on March 30, 2019. The reconstruction of the southern section (Népliget – Kőbánya–Kispest) was started on April 6, 2019. The plan is to upgrade the metro at Arany János utca and Ferenciek tere from 9 March 2020,[10] and from July 2020 at Corvin Negyed and Semmelweis Klinikák stations. Reconstruction between the Nyugati Pályaudvar and Semmelweis klinikák will begin after the southern section has been commissioned. At these stops, the underground trains pass non-stop while work continues. Overhauling the tunnel is set to be completed by August 24, 2020. After this reconstruction, the renewed trains will probably stay in service for more than 20 years before having to be replaced.[11]

Criticism

Civil groups voiced their concerns over the lack of accessibility and air-conditioning.[12] In response, Tarlós promised modular AC units would be installed on the trains and the government agreed to make 18 out of the 20 stations accessible.[13][14]

Timeline

Segment[2][3]	Date opened	Length
Deák Ferenc tér – Nagyvárad tér	31 December 1976	4.1 km
Nagyvárad tér – Kőbánya–Kispest	29 March 1980	4.9 km
Deák Ferenc tér – Lehel tér	30 December 1981	2.4 km
Lehel tér – Árpád híd	5 November 1984	1.7 km
Árpád híd – Újpest–Központ	14 December 1990	3.4 km
Total	20 Stations	16.5 km

Reconstructions

Stations	Closing stations	Opening stations
Gyöngyösi-utca – Újpest–Központ	4 November 2017	30 March 2019
Népliget – Kőbánya–Kispest	6 April 2019	October 2020 (planned)
Ferenciek tere	7 March 2020	2022 (planned)
Arany János utca	7 March 2020	2022 (planned)
Semmelweis Klinikák	11 July 2020	2022 (planned)
Corvin-negyed	11 July 2020	2022 (planned)

Stations and connections

Stations and connections of metro line M3[15][16][17]

Kőbánya-Kispest – Újpest-Központ
Travel Time minutes	Station	Travel Time minutes	Connection	Buildings / Monuments
∫	Kőbánya-Kispest ♿ Closed station	∫	M3, 68, 85, 85E, 93, 93A, 98, 98E, 136E, 148, 151, 182, 184, 193E, 200E, 201E, 202E, 282E, 284E 575, 576, 577, 580, 581 Hungarian State Railways (MÁV)
∫	Határ út Closed station	∫	42, 50, 52 M3, M3E, 194M, 200E, 66, 66B, 66E, 84E, 89E, 94E, 99, 123, 123A, 194, 194B, 199, 294E
∫	Pöttyös utca Closed station	∫	M3, M3E
∫	Ecseri út Closed station	∫	3 M3, M3E, 181, 281
∫	Népliget Closed station	∫	1 M3, M30 weekdays, 254M, 194M, 200E 254E 607, 608, 626, 628, 629, 630, 631, 632, 633, 635, 636, 654, 655, 660, 661, 705 (Volánbusz)	Népliget, Groupama Arena, Planetarium
0	Nagyvárad tér Weekends closed station	20	24, 24G M3, M3E, M30 weekdays 200E, 194M, 254M, 281	Semmelweis University Nagyvárad Téri Elméleti Tömb (NET), Hungarian Natural History Museum, Ludovika Military Academy
∫	Semmelweis Klinikák Closed station	∫	M3 weekends, M30 weekdays	Semmelweis University Clinic
∫	Corvin-negyed Closed station	∫	4, 6 83 M3 weekends, M30 weekdays	Museum of Applied Arts
4	Kálvin tér Weekends closed station	16	47, 47B, 48, 49 83 M3 weekends, M30 weekdays, 9, 15, 100E, 115	Fővárosi Szabó Ervin Könyvtár, Hungarian National Museum
∫	Ferenciek tere Closed station	∫	2 M3 weekends, 5, 7, 8E, 108E, 110, 112, 133E, 178
6	Deák Ferenc tér Weekends closed station	14	47, 48, 49 M3 weekends, 9, 16, 100E, 105	Deák Ferenc tér, Town Hall, Metro Museum (Földalatti Vasúti Múzeum)
∫	Arany János utca Closed station	∫	72, 73 M3 weekends, 9	St. Stephen's Basilica
8	Nyugati pályaudvar Weekends closed station	12	4, 6 72, 73 M3 weekends, 9, 26, 91, 191, 291 Hungarian State Railways (MÁV)	Nyugati pályaudvar, WestEnd City Center
10	Lehel tér	10	14 76 M3 weekends to Kőbánya-Kispest, 15, 115	Lehel csarnok
11	Dózsa György út	9	75, 79
13	Göncz Árpád Városközpont ^1 ♿	7	1 26, 32, 34, 106, 115, 120 800, 801, 805, 810, 815, 820, 830, 831, 832, 840
15	Forgách utca ♿	5	32
16	Gyöngyösi utca ♿	4	15, 105
18	Újpest-városkapu ♿	2	104, 104A, 121, 122, 196, 196A, 204 300, 302, 303, 305, 306, 308, 309, 310, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 318, 319, 320, 872, 880, 882, 883, 884, 889, 890, 893 Hungarian State Railways (MÁV)
20	Újpest-központ ♿	0	12, 14 25, 30, 30A, 104, 104A, 120, 147, 170, 196, 196A, 204, 220, 230, 270

¹Free-barrier only the Tram line 1, On January 30, 2020, the Árpád híd metro station was renamed Árpád Göncz Városközpont.

Gallery

• 
  Újpest-Központ
• 
  Újpest-városkapu
• 
  Újpest-városkapu
• 
  Gyöngyösi utca
• 
  Forgách utca
• 
  Göncz Árpád Városközpont
• 
  Dózsa György út
• 
  Lehel tér
• 
  Nyugati pályaudvar
• 
  Nyugati pályaudvar
• 
  Arany János utca
• 
  Deák Ferenc tér
• 
  Ferenciek tere
• 
  Kálvin tér
• 
  Kálvin tér
• 
  Kálvin tér
• 
  Corvin-negyed
• 
  Klinikák
• 
  Nagyvárad tér
• 
  Népliget
• 
  Ecseri út
• 
  Pöttyös utca
• 
  Határ út
• 
  Határ út
• 
  Határ út
• 
• 
• 
• 
  Kőbánya-Kispest (2005)
• 
  Kőbánya-Kispest
• 
  First reconstructed train, Pöttyös utca

References

1. András Koós - Tamás Szirmay - Jenő Tiborcz: A budapesti 3-as metróvonal új szakasza ("The new section of Budapest Metro Line 3"), Városi Közlekedés, Year XXXI, Vol. 1, pp. 126-127, Budapest, 1991
2. Árpád Bodnár: A budapesti metró két évtizede ("Two decades of the Budapest Metro"), Városi Közlekedés, Year XXXI, Vol. 3, pp. 119-121, Budapest, 1991
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
6. "Announcement about the state of Metro Line 3 by Budapest Mass Transport Company˝".
7. "Reconstruction of Metro Line 3's trains starts". 2016-02-02.
8. "Tarlós: reconstruction of the trains of Metro Line 3 can start". 2014-09-25.
9. "The first reconstructed train on Line M3 enters service". 2017-03-20.
10. "Két belvárosi állomás lezárásával folytatódik tavasszal az M3-as metró felújítása" (in Hungarian). Budapesti Közlekedési Központ. 2020-02-24. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
11. "Contracts of Metro Line 3 reconstruction signed". 2017-09-04.
12. Szabó, Zsolt. "Nem mind lift, ami annak látszik a metróban". mno.hu (in Hungarian).
13. "A kormány és a főváros a teljes körű akadálymentesítés mellé állt". meosz.hu (in Hungarian).
14. "Átadták a hármas metró felújított szakaszát, és még klíma is lehet benne". hvg.hu (in Hungarian).
15. "Stops, journey times and timetable of M3 (Nagyvárad tér → Újpest-központ)" (PDF) (in Hungarian and English). BKK. 2019-04-27. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
16. "Stops, journey times and timetable of M3 (Újpest-központ → Nagyvárad tér)" (PDF) (in Hungarian and English). BKK. 2019-04-27. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
17. "Route map of M3" (PDF) (in Hungarian and English). BKK. 2019-04-27. Retrieved 2019-08-19.