Metro Line M3 (Budapest Metro)

Metro Line M3
Overview
Type Rapid transit
System Budapest Metro
Status Operational
Termini Kőbánya-Kispest
Újpest-Központ
Stations 20
Line number Line 3 ("Blue metro")
Operation
Opened December 31, 1976 (1976-12-31)
Operator(s) BKV
Technical
Line length 16.5 km (10 mi)[1]
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification 825 V DC
Operating speed 80 km/h[2]
Route map
Metro 3
 Újpest–Központ
 Újpest–Városkapu HSR (MÁV)
 Gyöngyösi utca
 Forgách utca
 Árpád híd
 Dózsa György út
 Lehel tér
 Nyugati pályaudvar HSR (MÁV)
 Arany János utca
 Deák Ferenc tér
Ferenciek tere
 Kálvin tér
Corvin-negyed
 Klinikák
 Nagyvárad tér
 Népliget
 Ecseri út
 Pöttyös utca
 Határ út
 Kőbánya–Kispest HSR (MÁV)
 Detailed track map 
0
31
 Újpest–Központ
1
29
 Újpest–Városkapu HSR (MÁV)
3
27
 Gyöngyösi utca
5
25
 Forgách utca
7
24
 Árpád híd
8
22
 Dózsa György út
10
21
 Lehel tér
11
19
 Nyugati pályaudvar HSR (MÁV)
13
17
 Arany János utca
15
16
 Deák Ferenc tér
16
14
 Ferenciek tere
17
13
 Kálvin tér
19
11
 Corvin-negyed
20
10
 Klinikák
22
8
 Nagyvárad tér
24
7
 Népliget
26
5
 Ecseri út
27
4
 Pöttyös utca
29
2
 Határ út
31
0
 Kőbánya–Kispest HSR (MÁV)

Line 3 (Officially: North-South Line, Metro 3 or M3, and unofficially: Blue Line) is the third and longest line of the Budapest Metro. It runs in a general north-south direction parallel to the Danube on the Pest side, roughly following Váci út south from Újpest to the city center, then following the route of Üllői út southeast to Kőbánya-Kispest. Its daily ridership is estimated at 626,179. Like Line 1, it does not serve Buda.

History

The first decree for the third line was made in 1968,[3] construction started in 1970, the first section was opened in 1976 with six stations. The southern direction was complemented with five more stations in 1980, and the northern one in 1981, 1984, and 1990 with nine stations, reaching its current length of 20 stations and 16.5 km (10 mi), the longest line in Budapest.[2][3] Soviet-made 81-717/714 carriages (prevalent in many Eastern Bloc metro systems) operate on this line. Operation started with 4 units in 1976, expanded to 6 units in 1984.[4] Six unit-trains provide space for 1,097 people.[1] It was planned for a daily ridership of 800,000 people.[1]

Line 3 runs in a north-south direction (more exactly, from north-northeast to southeast) through the city and connects several populous microraion with the downtown.[5] It has a transfer station with Line 1 and Line 2 at Deák Ferenc tér, and a transfer station for Line 4 at Kálvin tér.

Timeline

Segment[2][3]Date openedLength
Deák Ferenc tér – Nagyvárad tér 31 December 1976 4.1 km
Nagyvárad tér – Kőbánya–Kispest 29 March 1980 4.9 km
Deák Ferenc tér – Lehel tér 30 December 1981 2.4 km
Lehel tér – Árpád híd 5 November 1984 1.7 km
Árpád híd – Újpest–Központ 14 December 1990 3.4 km
Total 20 Stations 16.5 km

Stations and connections

Kőbánya-Kispest – Újpest-Központ
Travel Time
minutes		 Station Travel Time
minutes		 Connection Buildings / Monuments
0Kőbánya-Kispest31 68, 85, 85E, 93, 93A, 98, 98E, 136E, 148, 151, 182, 184, 193E, 200E, 201E, 202E, 282E, 284E
575, 576, 577, 580, 581
Hungarian State Railways (MÁV)
3Határ út28 42, 50, 52
66, 66B, 66E, 84E, 89E, 94E, 99, 123, 123A, 194, 194B, 199, 294E
4Pöttyös utca27
5Ecseri út26 3
181, 281
7Népliget24 1
254E
607, 608, 626, 628, 629, 630, 631, 632, 633, 635, 636, 654, 655, 660, 661, 705
(Volánbusz)		Népliget, Groupama Arena, Planetarium
9Nagyvárad tér22 24
281		Semmelweis University Nagyvárad Téri Elméleti Tömb (NET), Hungarian Natural History Museum, Ludovika Military Academy
11Klinikák20Semmelweis University Clinic
12Corvin-negyed19 4, 6Museum of Applied Arts
14Kálvin tér17
47, 47B, 48, 49
83
9, 15, 100E, 115		Fővárosi Szabó Ervin Könyvtár, Hungarian National Museum
15Ferenciek tere16 5, 7, 8E, 15, 108E, 110, 112, 115, 133E, 178
16Deák Ferenc tér15
47, 48, 49
9, 16, 100E, 105		Deák Ferenc tér, Town Hall, Metro Museum (Földalatti Vasúti Múzeum)
18Arany János utca13 72, 73
9, 15, 115		St. Stephen's Basilica
19Nyugati pályaudvar12 4, 6
72, 73
9, 26, 91, 191, 226, 291
Hungarian State Railways (MÁV)		Nyugati pályaudvar, WestEnd City Center
21Lehel tér10 12M, 14M
76
15, 34, 106, 115		Lehel csarnok
23Dózsa György út8 75, 79
34, 106
24Árpád híd7 1
26, 32, 34, 106, 115, 120
800, 801, 805, 810, 815, 820, 830, 831, 832, 840
26Forgách utca5 32
28Gyöngyösi utca3 15, 105
30Újpest-Városkapu1 104, 104A, 121, 122, 196, 196A, 204
300, 302, 303, 305, 306, 308, 309, 310, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 318, 319, 320, 872, 880, 882, 883, 884, 889, 890, 893

Hungarian State Railways (MÁV)
31Újpest-Központ 0 12, 12M, 14M
25, 30, 30A, 104, 104A, 147, 170, 196, 196A, 204, 220, 230, 270

Ongoing Reconstruction

Mayor of Budapest Gábor Demszky was warned in 2006[6] by BKV that the line would soon need reconstruction, but no steps towards this were made before the new mayor István Tarlós took office in 2010. The trains started burning or smoking multiple times, but this has caused neither fatalities nor serious injuries as of yet. Tarlós reacted by ordering the retirement of all trains that were more than 40 years old. He also started the reconstruction of the tracks, because they were also reported as hazardous. In 2014 the mayor's administration finished laying out the plans for the complete reconstruction of the line and Viktor Orbán's government allowed the local government to finance the reconstruction of the trains by taking up loans. Repayment of the loans was guaranteed by the national government in case the municipal government was not able to pay. The municipal government requested EU funds to finance the reconstruction of the underground infrastructure (tunnels and stations), the national government assured it would provide financing in case no or less EU funds were obtained than the necessary amount.

The first metro train was handed over in January 2016 to the Russian Metrowagonmash (the original manufacturer) to be reconstructed.[7] Tarlós had preferred buying new trains, but he had been overwritten by the Orbán-government.[8] The prototype of the reconstructed trains entered service on March 20, 2017.[9] Since then, the number of reconstructed trains serving the line is scheduled to increase by 2 trains every month.

On September 4th, 2017 the contracts for reconstructing the whole tunnel and the stations of the northern section were signed, thus effectively starting the reconstruction. The stations will be finished by December 31st, 2018. After this phase, the stations of the middle- and the southern sections will be reconstructed, the order of these two phases is not yet decided. Overhauling the tunnel is set to end by August 24th, 2020. [10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 András Koós - Tamás Szirmay - Jenő Tiborcz: A budapesti 3-as metróvonal új szakasza ("The new section of Budapest Metro Line 3"), Városi Közlekedés, Year XXXI, Vol. 1, pp. 126-127, Budapest, 1991
  2. 1 2 3 Árpád Bodnár: A budapesti metró két évtizede ("Two decades of the Budapest Metro"), Városi Közlekedés, Year XXXI, Vol. 3, pp. 119-121, Budapest, 1991
  3. 1 2 3 Ágnes Medveczky Kovácsyné: 25 éves a budapesti metró ("Budapest Metro is 25 years old"), BKV, Budapest, 1995
  4. ↑ Botond Aba: 30 éves a budapesti metró ("Budapest Metro is 30 years old"), Városi Közlekedés, Year XL, Vol. 2, pp. 71, Budapest, 2000
  5. ↑ Budapest City Atlas, Dimap-Szarvas, Budapest, 2011, ISBN 978-963-03-9124-5
  6. ↑ "Announcement about the state of Metro Line 3 by Budapest Mass Transport Company˝".
  7. ↑ "Reconstruction of Metro Line 3's trains starts". 2016-02-02.
  8. ↑ "Tarlós: reconstruction of the trains of Metro Line 3 can start". 2014-09-25.
  9. ↑ "The first reconstructed train on Line M3 enters service". 2017-03-20.
  10. ↑ "Contracts of Metro Line 3 reconstruction signed". 2017-09-04.
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