Extended Train Timetable for Tourists Traveling to Lake Balaton

The Hungarian State Railways will switch to a summer pre-season timetable on May 12, with more trains for excursionists, the MÁV Group announced.

Thanks to the new tariff system (County pass and Hungary pass), the number of people who would like to travel to the country’s most popular excursion and recreation destinations – especially to the Lake Balaton region – with MÁV Group services, is constantly increasing, they noted. In recent years, the “long summer” timetable has rapidly gained popularity, providing better access to destinations around the lake with extra capacity in the early, high, and late seasons, the group added.

As part of the “long summer,” the railway group is introducing a pre-season timetable once again this year,

giving tourists more than a month before the official start of the holiday season with more options for getting to Lake Balaton, both in terms of the number of trains and their frequency.

For the pre-season, running until June 20 (end of the school year), the MÁV Group is preparing with the same types of services and frequencies as in previous years. However, the pre-season mode of operation is a preparation for the high season, when several new features and changes are planned to be introduced, they said.

From mid-May, major coastal settlements will be accessible with additional services in addition to the standard hourly trains.

Compared to the winter timetable, more InterCity coaches and modern motorized trains will be in service, and the number of bicycle transport options will be increased, providing more seats than in the early spring.

They pointed out that from the beginning of the pre-season, passengers traveling from the capital with InterCity and express trains (Balaton IC, Tópart IC, Kék Hullám express, Jégmadár express) to Lake Balaton will be required to buy a seat regardless of their destination.

Via MTI, Featured image: Facebook/MÁV-csoport