Line 2 (officially: East-West Line, Metro 2 or M2, and unofficially: Red Line) is the second line of the Budapest Metro. The line runs east from Déli pályaudvar in north-central

Buda Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...

under the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

to the

city center A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

, from where it continues east following the route of

Rákóczi út The House of Rákóczi (older spelling Rákóczy) was a Hungarian noble family in the Kingdom of Hungary between the 13th century and 18th century. Their name is also spelled ''Rákoci'' (in Slovakia), ''Rakoczi'' and ''Rakoczy'' in some forei ...

to its terminus at Örs vezér tere. Prior to the 2014 opening of Line 4, it was the only line that served Buda. Daily ridership is estimated at 350,000.

History

The first plans for the second Budapest metro line were made in 1942, and the Council of Ministers authorised its construction in 1950.András Koós: A 2-es metróvonal infrastruktúrájának korszerűsítése ("Modernization of the Line 2"), Városi Közlekedés, Year XL, Vol. 2, pp. 85, Budapest, 2000 Line 2 was originally planned to connect two major railway stations, ''Keleti'' (Eastern) and ''Déli'' (Southern) ''pályaudvar.'' The Council of Ministers wanted to complete the first section by 1954 between

Deák Ferenc tér The Deák Ferenc square (''Deák Ferenc tér''), named for Ferenc Deák, is a major intersection and transport junction in Budapest. Károly körút, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út, Király utca, Deák Ferenc utca, and Harmincad utca converge here. Three ...

and Népstadion (today Puskás Ferenc Stadion), and the second section by 1955 between Déli pályaudvar and Deák Ferenc tér.Ágnes Medveczky Kovácsyné: 25 éves a budapesti metró ("Budapest Metro is 25 years old"), BKV, Budapest, 1995 Construction was suspended for financial and political reasons from 1954 till 1963. The ruling Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party decided to restart the construction at a party congress in 1959. It was finally opened with seven stations on April 2 (then a

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

holiday in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

) in 1970, and the second section in 1972. The eastern end of the line was extended to Örs vezér tere, instead of Népstadion. Operation started in 1970 with 3-car trains, expanded to 4-car trains soon after, and 5-car trains since 1972. A major reconstruction of the track and stations was undertaken between 2004 and 2008, with new trains arriving in 2010. The new trains went into service two years later, in September 2012, and by April 2013 the line was solely served by new trains. On December 5th, 2016, an accident occurred on the line which involved an AM5-M2 rolling stock. An incoming train collided with a waiting train at the

Pillangó utca metro station Pillangó utca (lit. Butterfly street) is a station of the M2 (East-West) line of the Budapest Metro. The station was open on 2 April 1970 as part of the inaugural section of Line M2, between Deák Ferenc tér The Deák Ferenc square (''Deák ...

. This was the first serious accident in the history of the Budapest metro. The accident did not result in a fatality, but according to the prosecution, a total of twenty-one were injured, five of whom were classified as serious. M2 runs in an east-west direction through the city, and it was the first metro line to cross the

River Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

and reach

(the western part of Budapest).Budapest City Atlas, Dimap-Szarvas, Budapest, 2011, It has a transfer station with Line 1 and Line 3 at

, and a transfer station for Line 4 at Keleti pályaudvar.

Rolling stock

Stations and connections

Gallery

File:Budapest, metró 2, Déli pályaudvar, 4.jpg, Déli pályaudvar File:Budapest, metró 2, Széll Kálmán tér, 2.jpg, Széll Kálmán tér File:Széll Kálmán tér, Budapest metro.JPG, Széll Kálmán tér File:Budapest, metró 2, Batthyány tér, 10.jpg, Batthyány tér File:Budapest, Batthyány tér, metró 2.jpg, Batthyány tér File:Batthyány tér, Budapest metro M2.JPG, Batthyány tér File:Budapest, Kossuth Lajos tér, metró 2.jpg, Kossuth Lajos tér File:Budapest, metró 2, Deák Ferenc tér.jpg, Deák Ferenc tér File:Budapest, metró 2, Deák Ferenc tér, 8.jpg, Deák Ferenc tér File:Budapest, metró 2, Deák Ferenc tér, 14.jpg, Deák Ferenc tér File:Budapest, metró 2, Deák Ferenc tér, 13.jpg, Deák Ferenc tér File:Keleti pályaudvar, Budapest metro.JPG, Keleti pályaudvar File:BM Keleti pályaudvar.jpg, Keleti pályaudvar File:BudapestAlstom.jpg,

Alstom Metropolis The Alstom Metropolis is a family of electric multiple units designed and produced by the French rolling stock manufacturer Alstom. It is designed for high capacity rapid transit or metro rail infrastructure systems. Trains can be run in various ...

train at Keleti pályaudvar File:Puskás Ferenc Stadion, Budapest metro.JPG, Puskás Ferenc Stadion File:Budapest Metro Pillangó utca.JPG, Pillangó utca File:Örs vezér tere, Budapest metro2.JPG, Örs vezér tere File:Budapest, metró 2, Örs vezér tere, 3.jpg, Örs vezér tere

References

{{Budapest Metro Budapest Metro lines Railway lines opened in 1970