News site Index reports that BKK (the Centre for Budapest Transport), which oversees public transportation in the Hungarian capital, has announced that there will soon be a direct bus line between the city’s Deák Ferenc Square and Ferenc Liszt International Airport.
Such a route would certainly be a vast improvement over current conditions. As it now stands, in order to reach Deák from the airport via public transportation, one has to catch the 200E Bus at the airport (the “E” stands for “Express,” although this fact might be less than self-evident due to the 9 stops and 30 minutes that the 12.4-kilometer trip lasts) and take it to the Kőbánya-Kispest metro stop. At this rather depressing-looking station, one then has to get onto the M3 Metro (whose renovated trains were just removed from service due to serious defects) and ride it 10 stops before reaching Deák Square and the city center.
The current route from Ferenc Liszt International Airport and Budapest’s Deák Ferenc Square, by way of public transportation (Image: Google Maps)
In other words, a trip that would take half an hour by car is currently a 45-60-minute ordeal involving a bus, a metro line, and 19 separate public transportation stops. Naturally, then, the announcement of the direct bus line comes as welcome news to Budapest residents and international travelers alike.
This is far from the first effort to simplify travel between the airport and Budapest’s downtown. Last year, plans began to form to build a 22-kilometer-long stretch of track built between the Kőbánya-Kispest train station (which is the end of the M3 metro line) and the town of Monor, in order to provide a direct link between the airport and Budapest.
The proposed tram line would have been built in conjunction with the city’s preparations to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games; however, since the Momentum Movement’s successful referendum drive and Budapest’s subsequent decision to withdraw its bid to host the Games, such plans seem to have been indefinitely shelved.
While the schedule of the new bus route has not yet been announced, more details are set to be released at a press conference on Tuesday.
Via index.hu
Images via Wikimedia Commons and Google Maps