Just returned from a two-week stay in Hungary and I can definitely confirm that all public transport across the country is FREE for over-65s of any nationality, just need photo ID. I used my driving license rather than carry my passport around and it was accepted unquestioned both in Budapest and on longer journeys. The only payment which needs to be made is seat reservation on on the express journeys out of Budapest (cost about £1.50). This isn't a stupendous saving as public transport is so cheap anyway, the longest journey we made from Budapest to Tiszafured cost my wife all of around £8 for over 100 miles.
The trains in and out of Budapest are certainly smart, modern and clean with the old loco-hauled stock appearing refurbished and some stunningly elegant double-deck trains on the electrified lines. In and out of Tiszafured varied between three or four coaches pulled by a diesel loco or some rattly soviet-era DMUs. Many small stations are still fully manned by people who take their railway job seriously and at Tiszafured a nice lady in the ticket office sold my wife a county day rover ticket which made out trip to the bird reserve cost about £2.25 return.
Budapest buses, trams and the Metro are largely pass-based now but a few people still use individual tickets which require punching. The notorious grippers were ALWAYS on duty at Deak Ferenc Ter, the Metro interchange but astonishingly they normally checked the tickets of people entering the Metro as opposed to emerging so perhaps missing out on the money-making and scamming so prevalent in the UK enforcement! We also got gripped by the plain-clothes guy pulling on his official armband on a tram 47 but that was just one journey out of dozens. My wife could have paid around £10 for a three-day Budapest pass but for around £11 got a FIFTEEN day pass which she used on our final day to go back into Budapest for shopping. This is the best value pass I have ever encountered.
Nothing was cancelled, a few trains ran a few minutes late (usually due to single line sections) and the whole experience was brilliant, such a contrast to the sad mess we have here in a supposedly more advanced country. You will need Google translate or a smattering of Hungarian transport terminology outside of Budapest though.
The trains in and out of Budapest are certainly smart, modern and clean with the old loco-hauled stock appearing refurbished and some stunningly elegant double-deck trains on the electrified lines. In and out of Tiszafured varied between three or four coaches pulled by a diesel loco or some rattly soviet-era DMUs. Many small stations are still fully manned by people who take their railway job seriously and at Tiszafured a nice lady in the ticket office sold my wife a county day rover ticket which made out trip to the bird reserve cost about £2.25 return.
Budapest buses, trams and the Metro are largely pass-based now but a few people still use individual tickets which require punching. The notorious grippers were ALWAYS on duty at Deak Ferenc Ter, the Metro interchange but astonishingly they normally checked the tickets of people entering the Metro as opposed to emerging so perhaps missing out on the money-making and scamming so prevalent in the UK enforcement! We also got gripped by the plain-clothes guy pulling on his official armband on a tram 47 but that was just one journey out of dozens. My wife could have paid around £10 for a three-day Budapest pass but for around £11 got a FIFTEEN day pass which she used on our final day to go back into Budapest for shopping. This is the best value pass I have ever encountered.
Nothing was cancelled, a few trains ran a few minutes late (usually due to single line sections) and the whole experience was brilliant, such a contrast to the sad mess we have here in a supposedly more advanced country. You will need Google translate or a smattering of Hungarian transport terminology outside of Budapest though.
