Hungarian Rail Passes

[LNW-GW Joint]

Hungary is to introduce a range of monthly transport passes on May 1.
A national pass will be HUF 18 900 (about £44), but there will be local (county) versions as well.
They will cover bus, tram and rail services, but not those of the Budapest city operator BKK.
This article doesn't say how they will be sold, but it looks very like the German (subscription) model, and at a similar monthly price.

Integrated transport passes announced in Hungary

HUNGARY: Integrated monthly bus and rail passes for travel within one of the 19 vármegyék (counties) or nationally are to be introduced from May 1, state railway group MÁV announced on February 18. The monthly passes will be for valid on all national and regional bus and tram services outside...

www.railwaygazette.com

HUNGARY: Integrated monthly bus and rail passes for travel within one of the 19 vármegyék (counties) or nationally are to be introduced from May 1, state railway group MÁV announced on February 18.
The monthly passes will be for valid on all national and regional bus and tram services outside Budapest, as well as on trains operated by MÁV-Start, GySEV and Budapest suburban operator MÁV-HÉV. However, it will not be valid on BKK urban services within the capital, or on reservation-only trains or in first class.

The article goes on to say that the ticket is aimed at leisure and tourist travel, so presumably will be purchasable by visitors as well as residents.

 

[dutchflyer]

A little more info was-as could be expected-on the german sister forum DSO. From there I understand it would ONLY be valid on interurban buslines (Volan=wheels) and MAV/GYSEV, and NOT in any city (besides BKK in Bp a very few have set up their own system, and in Szeged/Debrecen/Miskolc are city-owned tramways). Years ago the state owned and nation-wide Volan was split up in regional entities with the aim (EU-rules apply) to gradually outsource these, but this is all against the will of the longtime president (not for life?) who seems mostly inspired by how it once was in old times. Except that the one and only brand for building buses for even about the whole eastern block-IKarus-is no more.
Hitherto as in about any country-incl even most parts of GB-there are monthly seasons for set routes-for most that will be home-work/school and these have to get a type of ´mothercard´ at the start at an office and then one buys monthly stamps at local shops/postoffice etc. As long as you can master the language this is open to anyone. In towns there is usually a cheaper one for 1 line and an other one for whole town. Very big reductions are granted to schoolkids, students etc-as could also be expected (it is as such not free for them).
Perhaps this is also an attempt to modernise this system to get it into the fone or the like.
In fact CZ has about the same system in more modern ways for most of its kraj=provinces, as nearly all now also have german style Verbund integrated fare systems on zonal base.
And the price announced for whole country is nearly equal to what DE=Germany also promises with its Deutschland Ticket from same day (the glorious day of the united labourers) and even for all local transit including all towns-but not its mainline IC/ICE train network. I think as such MAV now offers also a monthly network ticket, likely at a higher price for now. MAV and VOlan have technically been merged some time ago-in practice this does not seem to make much difference. Plenty of duplication on busy routes for train and bus exist.

 

[nanstallon]

Does Hungary still give free travel to the over 65s? Is that restricted to people from EWU countries?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Does Hungary still give free travel to the over 65s? Is that restricted to people from EU countries?

Yes/yes, so not available to UK passport-holders any more.
Those discounts also don't work on cross-border trains (EC), and you pay supplements for reservations/IC/1st class travel.

 

[StephenHunter]

Thinking of getting this for an upcoming trip - it will save me a lot of money.