Getting Around in Budapest

We are becoming more adept at using the transportation system. Budapest has, as do most cities of this size, a fantastic matrix of subways, trams and buses. The monthly pass that we have is good on all of these systems. The closest stop to us is Blaha Lujza which is about 2 blocks away. At that stop there are trams, buses and the subway, so we have very easy access.



Our favorite trams are the #4 or #6 because they are brand new and air-conditioned. Budapest has ring roads that form concentric semi-circles around the city. Trams 4/6 run on the middle ring road and provide great intersecting points with the other trams, buses and the subway. Up to this point we never wait long for one to come—maybe 3-5 minutes. But starting in September, the government has announced that the number of trains running will be fewer and therefore come less often. They predict waiting 5-10 minutes. This is because the trams, buses and subways are often occupied at less than their capacity and the goal is for the system to be more cost-effective while still providing good service. We will see these changes in a couple of weeks.



We’ve had some interesting experiences so far while riding. To enter the subway you first go down some steps and then show your pass and then get on a very fast moving escalator. Some of the stations have very long escalators like the ones in Washington, DC. The first picture is looking down the escalator and the second one is looking up. You can see that it's a long way either way!



Last week when we were riding the escalator back up to the street level it stopped! We had to climb the rest of the way. We counted the steps and it was nearly as many as the four flights to our apartment which is 88. That day I decided to count those steps as my apartment climb quota, but when we got back home, our elevator was not working and we had to climb those steps too!



To ride the subway, you go down the escalator and then pick which way you want to go. One end of the line/direction is to the right and the other to the left. The platforms are clean, well-lit and feel very safe. If fact all of Budapest feels very safe. There is a comfortable, up-beat feeling here. This is a picture of people waiting for the next subway to come. There is usually a clock nearby that tells either how it has been since the last train or counts down to the time the next one is due. They are very efficient. I don't know what time they start in the morning, but they stop running just before mid-night. There are some buses that run later than mid-night.



This photo is of the inside of a subway car. Budapest was the first city in Europe to have a subway. That was the yellow line. It's cars are small and look rather antique compared to the red and blue lines (pictured) which are newer and look about like the subway cars in Washington, DC. All the stops are plainly posted on the walls of the platfrom where you wait and inside of all of the subway cars and trams and buses.



Another interesting situation happened this past Tuesday. We were riding on tram #18, one of the older style trams, going north alongside the Danube where the street narrowed. It looks just like the #2 tram in the picture. A car and the tram ahead of us crunched together and pushed into another car as well. Everyone on both trams had to get off. We walked for about 1-2 blocks to the next bus stop. No trams could run north since those two were blocking the tracks. We got on a bus and then the bus got stuck in the festival traffic! It was real grid lock. The driver just turned off the engine. After moving about a block in thirty minutes, we got off and walked a mile (yes, I map-quested it!) to the subway station. It was hot and crowded with people lining the Danube to watch the qualifying airplane races.

If we had been thinking, we could have gotten on any tram going the opposite way (south) since they were still running. That would have taken us to tram 4/6 and the ring road that stops at Blaha Lujza! We’re slowly learning how to maneuver and learn more every day! Jan DeVries, the wife of another Calvin professor who was the faculty program director in Budapest in 2005, told me that she just always remembered that with a monthly pass, the worst thing that could happen if she took the wrong bus, tram or subway was to get off and get back on another one going the other way. And that is so true. They come often and unless you’re on a tight schedule it’s not a problem to wait for another one.



This picture shows the inside of tram #18. The lady with the shopping basket is very typical. Everyone here brings a basket or an empty shopping bag to the stores. The grocery stores are a lot like Aldi is at home. You have to have your own bags and some use the coin-in-the-cart system too.

The older style tram is also the type that goes to the dormitory where the students live. We take the #4 to it's last stop and then get on a #18 tram to Temesvar Utca. The dorm is about 4-5 houses down the street. The entire trip takes about 30 minutes from our apartment.



There is a high fence around the dormitory and we all have memorized the code to enter. You just push the numbers into the key pad to the right of the gate and it opens. To get out there is another button by the dumpster that you push and the gate can be opened to get out. The gate we use is the smaller one on the left. The center double one is only opened for delivery vehicles.



The students live on the first floor just to the left as you face the building. You can't see that side because of all the trees, but it's as long as the other side that is just visible over the trees on the right. They have that whole corridor to themselves. There are lots of other students from Hungary and other countries living on other floors of the same dorm. As you look at the dorm, the computer room is right above the front doors and the "club" where they have their Hungarian class and the class Corwin teaches is also in the center, but on the 3rd level (top).



There are a couple of other types of transportation too. This is a trolley bus. It has tires but connects to wires up above. I think this is the type of bus that Grand Rapids is going to have running from downtown to M-6.



This last picture is of a regular style bus that also stops at Blaha Lujza (which is pronounced like Louisa). There is a website that lists all these type of transportation systems and includes the names of the stops along with maps.

www.bkv.hu/english/home/index.html

You may have to copy it and paste it into your browser. But it's a very helpful thing!