Metro Line M2 (Budapest Metro)

Metro Line M2
Metro Line M2
Overview
Status	Operational
Line number	Line 2 ("Red metro")
Termini	Déli pályaudvar; Örs vezér tere;
Stations	11
Service
Type	Rapid transit
System	Budapest Metro
Operator(s)	BKV
Rolling stock	AM5-M2
History
Opened	2 April 1970
Technical
Line length	10.3 km (6.4 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Electrification	825 V DC
Operating speed	70 km/h
Route map
Route map

Metro 2

Legend

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

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.

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

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

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

Travel Time min:sec	Station	Travel Time min:sec	Connection	Buildings / Monuments
Déli pályaudvar – Örs vezér tere
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

Gallery

References

^ ^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
^ "BKK In Numbers". bkk.hu. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
^ ^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
^ ^a ^b Ágnes Medveczky Kovácsyné: 25 éves a budapesti metró ("Budapest Metro is 25 years old"), BKV, Budapest, 1995
^ Botond Aba: 30 éves a budapesti metró ("Budapest Metro is 30 years old"), Városi Közlekedés, Year XL, Vol. 2, pp. 71, Budapest, 2000
^ "Prosecution for the December 2016 subway accident". ugyeszseg.hu (in Hungarian). 2020-01-20. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
^ Budapest City Atlas, Dimap-Szarvas, Budapest, 2011, ISBN 978-963-03-9124-5

[Line_2a-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] "BKK In Numbers". bkk.hu. Retrieved 2021-02-10.

[Line_2b-3] András Koós: A 2-es metróvonal infrastruktúrájának korszerűsítése ("Modernization of the Line 2"), Városi Közlekedés, Year XL, Vol. 2, pp. 85, Budapest, 2000

[Line_2c-4] 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

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v t e Budapest Metro
	Vörösmarty tér Deák Ferenc tér Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út Opera Oktogon Vörösmarty utca Kodály körönd Bajza utca Hősök tere Állatkert (until 1973) Széchenyi fürdő Mexikói út
	Örs vezér tere Pillangó utca Puskás Ferenc Stadion Keleti pályaudvar Blaha Lujza tér Astoria Deák Ferenc tér Kossuth Lajos tér Batthyány tér Széll Kálmán tér Déli pályaudvar
	Kőbánya-Kispest Határ út Pöttyös utca Ecseri út Népliget Nagyvárad tér Semmelweis Klinikák Corvin-negyed Kálvin tér Ferenciek tere Deák Ferenc tér Arany János utca Nyugati pályaudvar Lehel tér Dózsa György út Göncz Árpád városközpont Forgách utca Gyöngyösi utca Újpest-városkapu Újpest-központ
	Kelenföld vasútállomás Bikás park Újbuda-központ Móricz Zsigmond körtér Szent Gellért tér – Műegyetem Fővám tér Kálvin tér Rákóczi tér II. János Pál pápa tér Keleti pályaudvar
See also: Metro Line M5 (Budapest Metro) BKV BHÉV VEKE Underground Railway Museum