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BREAKING NEWS: Budapest and the Government reach agreement on new public transport season tickets
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Hundreds of thousands of passengers have been following closely the skirmishes between the Government and the Budapest management. For a long time, it appeared unlikely that an agreement would be reached; however, it now appears that a passenger-friendly deal has been sealed.
Today, János Lázár, the Minister of Construction and Transport, and Gergely Karácsony, the Mayor of Budapest, met up and forged a completely new, comprehensive agreement regarding the dynamics of public transport in Budapest and the conurbation.
According to the press release, this agreement will make public transport more affordable and convenient for hundreds of thousands of passengers.
Key highlights of the agreement include:
- The Budapest season ticket extends its validity across the capital on MÁV, Volán, HÉV trains, in addition to BKK.
- Starting 1 March 2024, the monthly season ticket for Pest County and the national season ticket will be applicable on BKK lines. Both parties will facilitate the sale of these passes through their respective sales channels.
- Instead of cost-based accounting, which has been the subject of much controversy, the parties will now proportionally share the revenue from the Budapest season ticket, Pest county season ticket and the national season ticket, along with the related fare supplement, based on the specificities of the area of validity.
- Starting in 2024, the parties commit to implementing an accounting system aimed at covering the costs of public transport in Budapest and the agglomeration not covered by revenue.
The ministry and the capital will also settle the settlement disputes over the previous agglomeration agreement, which expired at the end of last year. As a result of the new, comprehensive agreement, the Municipality of Budapest will pay HUF 5.57 billion to MÁV as agglomeration cost compensation for 2022-2023.
Mayo Greg is feeling the heat of the upcoming election so he folded. I hope the denizens of Budapest wake up and kick the Commies out of office. Can’t wait to make my contribution toward that endeavor come June!
Your comment makes little sense. You say the mayor folded, but in what way would it have been advantageous to anyone if the outcome would have been the Budapest pass being invalid on MAV, HEV and Volanbusz operated services? An agreement needed to be reached to ensure the city pass remained valid for all forms of transport, moreover, so that commuters from certain suburbs and commuter towns lying outside Budapest were not unduly penalised with having to buy two monthly passes when one should do. The agreement is exactly that which the mayor will have been looking for and therefore it is a success.