Budapest places hopes in airport train

Terminal 1 of Budapest's Ferihegy Airport has been linked to the city centre by rail since this summer. With tickets costing the equivalent of EUR 1.20, this is by far the cheapest way to make this trip.

Airport to city centre in 20 minutes

Just eight years after the idea of an airport express was first floated, Budapest’s Ferihegy Airport is now linked to the West Railway Station in the city centre by a new station opened by MÁV, Hungarian State Railways.

However, the new 20-minute rail link is not yet the long-awaited airport express. Initially only scheduled trains to and from the town of Szolnok in eastern Hungary will be stopping at the newly constructed Ferihegy station every half hour between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., then once an hour till midnight. All intercity trains travelling on this line will also stop at Ferihegy starting in September.

The European Union has borne 80% of the total cost of EUR 21.3 million from the Cohesion Fund for the financing of the new link, the remaining 20% coming from the Hungarian budget.

Fare prices: normal rail fares

At the equivalent of EUR 1.20, fares on the Ferihegy Airport – West Railway Station link are unrivalled. Even a ticket on Budapest’s BKV transport network costs the equivalent of nearly EUR 1, and hardly any passengers are able to get to the airport with fewer than three BKV trips. The airport minibus transports passengers for around EUR 10, whilst the taxi companies have a fixed airport fare of EUR 20.

Airport express after 2010

Ferihegy handles around 8-9 million passengers a year at the present time. According to the Ministry of Economics, an express rail link will be established only after 2011, when the volume of passengers has exceeded the 10 million mark in the long term. Nevertheless, MÁV Hungarian State Railways reports that the capacity of European rail corridor IV has been increased by the upgrading of this rail link, and the standard of passenger and goods traffic in the direction of the new EU member states Romania and Bulgaria has improved.

In a report broadcast by Hungarian Television, it was pointed out the City Airport Train (CAT) to Vienna Airport was completed within six months.


Further information: Is Vienna Airport Aiming to Buy Budapest Airport?

Link-Tip

Hungarian State Railways Budapest Ferihegy Airport