Metro Line M2 (Budapest Metro)

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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
StatusOperational
Line numberLine 2 ("Red metro")
Termini
Stations11
Service
TypeRapid transit
SystemBudapest Metro
Operator(s)BKV
Rolling stockAM5-M2
History
Opened2 April 1970
Technical
Line length10.3 km (6.4 mi)[1]
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in)
Electrification825 V DC
Operating speed70 km/h[1]
Route map
Metro 2
Déli pályaudvar
Hungarian State Railways
Széll Kálmán tér
Batthyány tér
Kossuth Lajos tér
Deák Ferenc tér
Astoria
Blaha Lujza tér
Keleti pályaudvar
Hungarian State Railways
Puskás Ferenc Stadion
Pillangó utca
Örs vezér tere
Detailed track map
0
18
Déli pályaudvar
Hungarian State Railways
1
16
Széll Kálmán tér
3
15
Batthyány tér
4
13
Kossuth Lajos tér
6
11
Deák Ferenc tér
9
10
Astoria
10
8
Blaha Lujza tér
11
6
Keleti pályaudvar
Hungarian State Railways
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 350,000.[2]

History

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The first plans for the second Budapest metro line were made in 1942, and the Council of Ministers authorised its construction in 1950.[3] 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.[4] Construction was suspended for financial and political reasons from 1954 till 1963.[3] The ruling Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party decided to restart the construction at a party congress in 1959.[4] It was finally opened with seven stations on April 2 (then a Communist holiday in Hungary) in 1970, and the second section in 1972.[3] The eastern end of the line was extended to Örs vezér tere, instead of Népstadion.[3] Operation started in 1970 with 3-car trains, expanded to 4-car trains soon after, and 5-car trains since 1972.[5] 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.

On December 5, 2016, an accident occurred on the line which involved an AM5-M2 rolling stock. An incoming train collided with a waiting train at the Pillangó utca metro station. This was the first serious accident in the history of the Budapest metro. The accident did not result in a fatality, but according to the prosecution, a total of twenty-one were injured, five of whom were classified as serious.[6]

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).[7] 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 (4.2 mi) 7
Déli pályaudvar - Deák Ferenc tér 1972 3.6 km (2.2 mi) 4
Total 1972 10.3 km (6.4 mi) 11

Rolling stock

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Time period Name
1970 – 2013 Metrovagonmash Ev, Ev1
1980 – 2013 Metrovagonmash 81-717.2/714.2
1998 – 2013 Metrovagonmash 81-717.2M/714.2M
2000 – 2013 Metrovagonmash EvA
2012 – present Alstom Metropolis AM5-M2

Stations and connections

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    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, 221
  Regional buses
  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, 149, 155, 156, 221, 222
  Regional buses
Post Palace Budapest, Városmajor
3:27 Batthyány tér 15:12  
  19, 41
  11, 39, 111
  Batthyány tér
Batthyány tér Market Hall
4:55 Kossuth Lajos tér 13:45   2, 2B, 23
  70, 78
  15
Hungarian Parliament Building, Ethnographic Museum
6:55 Deák Ferenc tér 11:50    
  47, 48, 49
  72
  9, 16, 100E, 105, 178, 210, 210B, 216
  Deák Ferenc tér
Town Hall, Metro Museum (Földalatti Vasúti Múzeum), St. Stephen's Basilica
8:35 Astoria 10:07   47, 48, 49
  72, 74
  5, 7, 8E, 9, 107, 108E, 110, 112, 133E
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, 107, 108E, 110, 112, 133E, 217E
Boscolo Budapest Hotel
11:50 Keleti pályaudvar 6:50  
  23, 24
  73, 76, 78, 79, 80
  5, 7, 7E, 8E, 20E, 30, 30A, 107, 108E, 110, 112, 133E, 230
  Hungarian State Railways (MÁV)
Keleti pályaudvar
Arena Plaza
14:35 Puskás Ferenc Stadion
4:07   1, 1M
  75, 77, 80
  95, 130, 195
  Regional buses
  Long-distance buses
Ferenc Puskás Stadium, László Papp Budapest Sports Arena, Kisstadion
16:25 Pillangó utca
2:10   10 Kincsem Park
19:25 Örs vezér tere
0:00    
  3, 62, 62A
  80, 82, 82A
  10, 31, 32, 44, 45, 67, 85, 85E, 97E, 131, 144, 161, 161A, 161E, 168E, 169E, 174, 176E, 231, 244, 276E, 277
  Regional buses
  Long-distance buses
  Örs vezér tere
Árkád Budapest
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References

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  1. ^ a b c 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. ^ "BKK In Numbers". bkk.hu. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  3. ^ a b c d András Koós: A 2-es metróvonal infrastruktúrájának korszerűsítése ("Modernization of the Line 2"), Városi Közlekedés, Year XL, Vol. 2, pp. 85, Budapest, 2000
  4. ^ a b Ágnes Medveczky Kovácsyné: 25 éves a budapesti metró ("Budapest Metro is 25 years old"), BKV, Budapest, 1995
  5. ^ Botond Aba: 30 éves a budapesti metró ("Budapest Metro is 30 years old"), Városi Közlekedés, Year XL, Vol. 2, pp. 71, Budapest, 2000
  6. ^ "Prosecution for the December 2016 subway accident". ugyeszseg.hu (in Hungarian). 2020-01-20. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
  7. ^ Budapest City Atlas, Dimap-Szarvas, Budapest, 2011, ISBN 978-963-03-9124-5