Budapest has a fairly extensive public transportation
network. In Freiburg, I could get by
just on the straßenbahn, and it was handy and functional for a largely
centralized city of its size. Of course,
Budapest is considerably bigger and considerably more sprawling. Like many similar European cities of its age,
it’s largely devoid of skyscrapers. The
center of the city is made up of buildings that are all pretty equal in height,
largely a consistent six stories. The
result is that there is no overridingly dense core like in American
cities. While Budapest still runs a
hub-based transport network as if it has that dense core, it has to have
relatively frequent transport networks throughout the city. The density doesn’t afford itself to using
the metro everywhere, so you end up with a lot of diversity in modes of
transport.
(Full disclosure – I stole a couple of these pictures from
my 2009 trip to Budapest. Clearly I have
not taken enough pictures of vehicles to comprehensively do an entry like this)
The centerpiece of this is, of course, the Metro. Budapest Line 1 was the first line in
continental Europe, and runs the length of Andrassy Boulevard just steps
beneath the surface of the street. Most
of the stations on it still bear the more decorative designs of dating from
1896. The other two lines feel quite
different. Line 2 feels incredibly
Soviet, with station designs that are a bit darker and more utilitarian. Line 3 feels relatively modern in its
design. The result is that you can
basically tell which line you’re riding on based solely on what the stations
look like – handy if you’re ever a bit confused. Budapest is currently constructing Line 4
(which was originally supposed to be completed before I got here). Line 4 will be handy because it will be the
first line that doesn’t transfer in Deák, the main transfer point, allowing
people to shave some considerable time off their journeys. Also, it will make only the second tunnel
under the Danube – there are only three subway stations on the Buda side of the
river at present.
Old-timey line 1
Soviet line 2
Modern (and momentarily blurry) line 3
And perpetually Soviet-looking subway cars.
Metro aside, there are four major types of public transport:
the HÉV (suburban rail), trams, trolleybuses, and buses. Handily, all are color-coded: green, yellow,
red, blue. Generally, they run as you’d
expect them to. The HÉV run from the
metro stations at the end of the 2 and 3 lines out into the less dense areas of
Budapest, and, ultimately, the suburbs.
The only time I’ve used it is going to Szentendre, though I might take
the one that passes across the street from my apartment some day just to see
where it takes me.
Trams are on the bigger inner city routes not covered by the
Metro and have an occasional bonus 24 hour-route. I live outside the radius of the tram network
so I don’t use them nearly as often as friends who live in the central area
would. Still, knowing where the trams
goes allows you to cut a significant time off your commute over the metro at
times, given the nature of transferring.
New looking trams
Soviet looking trams
Finally, there are trolley buses and buses – which basically
do the same things, except I can follow wires overhead to see where
trolleybuses go and I can’t with buses.
Ultimately, this means that trolleybuses are confined to denser areas
where the wires can be connected comprehensively and the buses go out further into
the fringe of the city. Needless to say,
buses are an essential part of my transport.
It's blue!
It's red!
While this is the core of the public transportation system, in Buda, there are a couple of outliers mainly designed for tourists/weekenders, not commuting, both in the Buda Hills to take you into the parks. Both are gimmicks. There is the cogwheel railroad (which I've not used yet), which is an old-style railroad that takes you in to the forest. And then there is the children's railroad, which is run and administered and conducted by children. Thankfully, driven by adults.
The children's railroad made all the more harrowing that, while run by children, it appears to have the fewest safety features of any of the public transportation options in Budapest.
So far, it's served me well - yet despite all of these options available, Budapest has been under a perpetually worsening smog warning for the past two weeks. Go figure!
