It is winter in Budapest and the buses of the local transportation company, BKV, is having a hard time. But not only the buses, but the drivers and other workers are not at all satisfied, and the rumours are even spreading that some drivers just leave their buses in so called wildcat strikes.
In addition a big strike has been announced on January 12, and time will show it it will be a heavy strike or not (I have heard that even if it is a strike the metros will probably be running and so on)!
It has been a long time since we have been reporting about strikes in Budapest. There was a period in the end of 2008 and in the start of 2009 when there were continues strikes at the Ferihegy Airport, but since then things have improved a little. But now the train workers are unsatisfied (again), so from midnight (October 19, 00.00) most people will start striking which means that most trains will be standing still tomorrow morning and on for an unknown amount of time.
For train information check out the link, but I guess those planning to use train tomorrow should find out something else to do. This means that the train leaving from Ferihegy Airport to the inner city will be very insecure tomorrow, so why not choose an airport transfer instead?
Railway strike information update (October 19 – 9.53)
Its now 9.53 AM, October 19, and I read in some newspapers that there are heavy delays and big problems for those wanting to use the railway in Hungary. But, it is also said that more and more people is returning to their jobs, so it might be that things will smoothen out a bit more during the day.
Railway strike information update (October 19 – 13:43)
I just read that the strike is finished, and that all railway traffic should return to its normal way and schedules within some hours!
More and more people contact us for information and help with arranging airport transfers in Budapest. It is always useful to have someone waiting for you in the arrival hall as you arrive to a new city, and that is why we have made this offer for our visitors. And, not only is it practical – it is also cheap. Compared to many other sites offering airport transfers we are much cheaper, and we have received lots of good feedback on our services so far.
Whether you arrive to Ferihegy 1 or Ferihegy 2A or 2B we can offer the same prices and good service. It is also very popular with the offer of combining it with a guided tour, especially if you arrive early in the day. Why? Because you are not allowed to check into your hotel that early, so then you can join us directly on a guided tour where you will be served some drinks and some snacks – and after 2 1/2 hour you will be dropped of safely by your hotel, ready for check-in – and hopefully allowed to check-in as well!
As people living in Budapest we mostly miss some of those details that a tourist can see when he arrives to Budapest. Yesterday I noticed one of them as I came with bus 200E, which is the bus taking passengers from Ferihegy 1 and Ferihegy 2 to Köbánya Kispest in Budapest, that the bustravel ends at a special place. Currently they are working a lot at Köbánya Kispest building up a new shopping center and a modern bus parking lot, and because of that quite some changes have taken place. So, when you arrive with bus 200E at the endstation you will meet the same view that can be seen on the picture on the right… not to nice, ehh?
Normally people walk from the busstop to the metro, and from there they travel with the blue metro to the inner city. It is not really hard, but it is quite interesting to see how Budapest welcomes the beloved tourists. But it is good that it is only a temporary thing. Soon the shopping center and everything will be built, and then it will suddenly be much, much nicer to arrive as a tourist with local transportation to Budapest.
If you would like to rather have us pick you up at the airport and take you on a guided tour, just send us an email, and we will arrange a nice transfer and a guided tour for you!
Every year we make wishes for what to change in the coming year, and every year the prices for the public transportation in Budapest goes up. So also for 2009. We have updated our page about public transportation in Budapest where you can get up to date information on the new prices.
One great thing is that the new metro ticket will be valid for 60 minutes, and it allows you to change metros within that timeframe.
Another new thing is the quarteryear ticket (100-day ticket) which will be priced 27.000 for adults. The monthly card will cost 9.000 forints, the three day card 3.700, the daily card 1.500 and the single ticket 290 forints.
Yesterday we reported that the trains were standing still and that the strike at the airport still influenced the air traffic. Today Budapest Airport Zrt. wrote at their webpage that all traffic went as planned this morning, and that there are only short lines by the security checks. They hope that they will be able to keep it this way throughout the entire day.
On the trainstations most trains are standing, also international trains, and buses are packed up throughout the nations. The news reports of people who are not able to go to work, missing out their exams and the consequences is quite big for the Hungarians.
NEW STRIKE COMING UP
Yesterday the news also arrived that BKV (the company running the public transport in Budapest) will organize a strike this Thursday (18 December) from 04.30 until 13:00.
Those were the striking news for today!
Check back to our frontpage later for more updates.
Here you can find a very detailed map showing you the metro, bus, tram and HEV-lines of Budapest. For more information about the public transportation in Budapest, go here.
More maps:
Interactive Budapest Map
A simple Budapest Map
Click the map for a high resolution version
