Budapesti Közlekedési Zrt.


Budapesti Közlekedési Zártkörűen Működő Részvénytársaság, abbreviated to BKV Zrt. is the main public transport operator in Budapest, Hungary. BKV was established in 1968 as a unified public transport company with the merger of the companies responsible for the different means of transport: bus operator FAÜ, tram and trolleybus operator FVV, suburban railway operator BHÉV and riverboat operator FHV. The metro was added in 1973. Transport in Budapest underwent another reorganization in 2010 when BKK was founded for the management of the city transport and infrastructure.
Since then, BKV is the largest public transport contractor of BKK, operating 4 metro lines, 36 tram, and 14 trolley bus routes, and 30% of the 243 local bus and 46 night bus lines.

Road vehicle operation

City-owned BKV runs most of the vehicles of the extensive network of surface mass transportation in Budapest, with the emphasis on buses. The 900~ BKV-owned buses in Budapest circulate on 30% of the 243 routes. The buses are painted sky blue. Trolleybuses in red livery are operated on 14 routes. The night service is provided exclusively by buses and by the trams on Great Boulevard, but is planned to be overhauled in the future. The articulated bus is a hallmark of Budapest; both diesel and ETB bendy vehicles have been running since the late 1950s and still form the majority of BKV's fleet.
The late-2000s road rebuilding effort also changed the lanes, creating distinct lanes for vehicles, reducing the travel time of the buses. Completing the eastern sector of M0 beltway around the city in 2008 significantly reduced traffic congestion, and the inauguration of metro line M4 in 2014 further helped the situation. Competitive wages are still a serious issue as bus drivers are often lured to the trucking industry.

Rail services

BKV operates 36 city tram routes, including the Budapest Cog Railway that operates as tram line 60. The once-extensive network of tram tracks and the brown striped yellow trams were a characteristic of Budapest, but the network was curtailed under Communism owing to lack of funding. Line 4-6 is still the largest capacity tram-line in Europe. The tram services are now set to have a renaissance as there is no further road capacity for bus lanes in Budapest. Replacing the more than 40-year-old rolling stock started in 2006 with new 54-meter long Siemens Combino Supra giants completely replacing former carriages on the 4-6 line.
The underground railway network is less extensive, consisting of four lines, but is still largely th most used mean of public transport in Budapest, with more than 1 million riders per day. The M1 line, whose colour is yellow, is a small underground tramway inaugurated in 1896. The other three are full-sized metro lines: M2, M3 and M4. M2 and M4 run roughly east–west, while M3 runs mostly north–south. There is a plan for a high-speed rail link to Ferihegy BUD international airport, which is currently served by bus from the end of the metro line M3. – See the main article Budapest Metro. In 2005 a "BEB" monthly pass was introduced for a 10% extra cost over the regular price, which permitted the use of the MÁV national railway lines within the city area, effectively increasing the tracked service for BKV's passengers. Since 2009, all monthly passes, now called the "Budapest-pass", are valid on the national railway and suburban bus lines within city boundaries.

Passenger statistics

As of 2009, approximately 54% of the passenger traffic in Budapest, a city of 1.7 million inhabitants, is still carried by BKV vehicles, with the remaining 46% using private vehicles. During 2003 a total of 1.4 billion people travelled by BKV. During the Socialist era, Budapest had 2 million residents and its public vs. private transport ratio was 80% : 20% in favor of mass transit. This ratio was a result of artificial restriction: COMECON rules did not allow Hungary to produce private cars domestically and Dacia / Lada / Škoda / Trabant / Wartburg car imports were never enough.

Funding

After the fall of Communism, BKV was initially plagued by a lack of funding. It survived by selling some of its garages and repair bases for mall and housing development. Bx October 2009, the average BKV diesel bus was 16.5 years old and the oldest one of the 1,400 strong fleet was 24 years old, with 3.5 million kilometers to its track record. Yet starting in 2010, a bus replacement program scrapped most of those old buses and increased the ratio of modern, air-conditioned low-floor buses to 80% by 2016. Since November 2022, BKV operates only low-floor buses.
In 2006, Siemens Combino Supra trams completely replaced the carriages serving the Grand Boulevard. In the same year, French Alstom metro trains were ordered to replace all Soviet carriages on metro line M2 and to serve on metro line M4, the construction of which had started in that year. All units for both lines entered service by 2014, the same year in which 47 air-conditioned, low-floor CAF trams were purchased. BKV had the opportunity to purchase an additional 77 trams, which they did throughout the following years until 2023, when they purchased the last remaining trams. In 2016, the more than 30 years old Russian trains running on metro line M3, produced by Mytishchi Machine-building Factory, started to be refurbished by the legal successor Metrowagonmash. The first train arrived back in Budapest in May 2016, with the rest of the trains arriving throughout 2016 and 2017. On March 20, 2017 the first refurbished train began its journey on line M3. Since April 3, 2018 only renovated trains run on line M3.
BKV operates on a net-loss basis; state-mandated ticket prices cover less than 50% of running costs. The state circumvents European Union regulations by failing to fully compensate the BKV company for operating costs and amortization.

Season tickets and passes

BKV uses a paper-based system of tickets and passes, but mobile tickets are also available on the BudapestGO app. As of 2025, a monthly Budapest-pass allowing one person to travel on any BKV vehicle costs . Pest County Passes, and Hungary Passes are also valid inside Budapest. Children below 14, and the elderly travel free. Passes are not transferable.
On June 20, 2023, BKV introduced Budapest Pay&GO on bus line 100E. This method of ticket management had been planned for the entire transit system of Budapest for years, but only now is it materialized. It was expanded to metro line M1 in October 2023.

Accessibility

All BKV buses are wheelchair accessible. There are also a few special small-sized BKV buses, which can be reserved by phone to transport a person using a wheelchair. Metro line M4 has public lifts installed in every station. Most of line M2's stations currently only have escalators, excluding Puskás Ferenc Stadion, Pillangó utca and Örs vezér tere, but all other stations are planned to have elevators installed in the future. Before its major renovation, line M3 only had elevators at Kőbánya-Kispest, but during the renovation, they were installed at every station. Line M1 is planned to be renovated, and equipped with elevators at every station.
Currently available regular service line with handicapped-compatible low-floor vehicles:
Metro
  • line M1: Only stations Deák Ferenc tér, Széchenyi fürdő, Mexikói út
  • line M2: Only stations Puskás Ferenc Stadion, Pillangó utca, Örs vezér tere
  • line M3: All stations
  • line M4: All stations
Tram
  • 1: all vehicles at weekends
  • 3: most of the vehicles
  • 4, 6: all vehicles
  • 14: 2 vehicles at weekdays
  • 17, 19: half of the vehicles
  • 42: most vehicles
  • 50: all vehicles
  • 56/56A: half of the vehicles
Since November 2022, every bus line has low-floor buses, with trolleybus lines having low-floor buses most of the time.

Description of major vehicle types used by BKV

Buses

Present fleet

  • Mercedes-Benz Citaro: Purchased and entered service in 2012, these buses were bought used from various Western-European cities. long, entirely low-floor buses. As a result, from originating from different places, certain buses have major differences between each other. The ones manufactured the earliest are the C1 type, and are quite disliked because of their loud motors and doors. They are also notorious for catching on fire. All have been retrofitted with larger windows and the standard BKV colors. 150 brand new Citaro C2G buses were purchased in 2013, and were operated by ArrivaBus until the end of their contract in 2023, when apart from four instructor, one solo and one articulated bus, all of them were taken out of service, but some were bought back to serve BKV in 2024. BKV purchased 21 CNG-powered Citaro C1's from Sweden in 2016, but similarly to the regular C1's, they were unreliable and eventually decided to take all buses out of service only 4 years after buying them. 57 Citaro C1 and Facelift solo buses are in service under BKV as of December 2025.
  • Mercedes-Benz Conecto: German and Turkish made, long, entirely low-floor buses. As of November 2025, there are 201 of these buses in service, having entered service between 2015 and 2022, making them the largest number of non-articulated buses in BKV's fleet. The ones that arrived in 2022 were the first buses in Budapest to be equipped with new registration plates, and new, white dot-matrix screens on the front and back on the bus, replacing the orange dot-matrix screens found on the majority of buses in Budapest.
  • Mercedes-Benz Conecto G: German and Turkish made, long, entirely low-floor buses, articulated version of the Mercedes-Benz Conecto. Similarly to the non-articulated version, these buses hold the title of the most articulated buses in BKV's fleet, with 302 in service as of December 2025. As a result, you can find them anywhere throughout Budapest. They first arrived in 2015, together with the non-articulated version with additional buses coming until 2022.
  • Ikarus 412: Hungarian-made, long, entirely low-floor buses; built from 1999 to 2001. The type is a serious failure, manufactured during the final decline of the Ikarus company; literally no two vehicles are identical in the 412 fleet. A number of vehicles have been already refurbished since 2009. Several engine compartment fires forced BKV to rebuild the propulsion cells and the chassis is still prone to fracture. Suffers from narrower rear door and gangway. The reduced size of the rear passenger doors can cause problems during peak hours. All are painted in a light shade of blue. There are 3 Ikarus 412 buses operating as of December 2025 are rumored to be taken out of service until early 2026.
  • Ikarus V127 / Modulo M108d: Built in PKD cooperation between MABI and BKV from 2014 to 2016. long, entirely low-floor buses, non-articulated version of the Ikarus V187 / Modulo M168d. The first 18 were manufactured under the Ikarus brand, with the other 49 gaining the Modulo branding. The two versions have no differences but are equally criticized for being poorly built, together with the articulated version. 66 are in service as of December 2025.
  • Ikarus V187 / Modulo M168d: Originally one, Hungarian-made, long, entirely low-floor, articulated bus, built in 2010. The longest bus in BKV's fleet, and also the most environmentally friendly one at its time, fitted with a Euro-5 engine. In 2016, manufacturing of these buses resumed, now under the name Modulo M168d, and a redesigned front and back. 21 are in service as of December 2025.
  • Volvo 7000: Built in Finland and Poland in 2002. BKV bought used Volvo 7000 vehicles from Berlin in 2015, where they had served 13 years. Originally 38 vehicles were put into service, but barely after two weeks after entering service one had already burnt down, with several more facing the same fate later on. 14 remain in service as of December 2025.
  • Volvo 7700: Polish-made, built in 2004, the successor to the Volvo 7000. Similarly to its predecessor, BKV bought 38 used Volvo 7700 vehicles from Veldhoven in 2012 to replace Ikarus 412's in the hilly routes of Buda, where they ran unreliably. These Volvos finally entered service in late 2012. 25 are in service as of December 2025.
  • Volvo 7700A: Polish-made, built specifically for Budapest, long articulated buses, based on Swedish B7LA chassis. Considered a technological marvel by experts for cramming four double doors and a usable gangway into a fully low-floor vehicle with vertically mounted engine at the time. Current fleet of 78 arrived in three batches of fifty in 2004/2005/2006. During their service years, they have become liked vehicles because of their higher comfort level and quietness. All of them have automatic climate control, which was unique to BKV's bus fleet at the time of their arrival. As of December 2025, roughly half of the original fleet of 150 remain in service, with the majority of the first 50 having been taken out of service.
  • Volvo 7705 / 7905 Hybrid: Two-axle, hybrid buses were bought used from several different countries, and entered service from 2017 to 2019. As a result of their mixed origins, they differer from one another, with some being equipped with two, and other with three doors. They mostly serve the eastern districts and suburbs. 35 are in service as of December 2025.
  • Van Hool A300, A330, newA330: 13 Belgian-made, long low-floor A300 buses, built between 2000 and 2001 were bought by BKV in 2011 from Nijmegen. At BKV they were equipped with automatic climate control and repainted in BKV's signature blue livery. A further 66 Van Hool A330 and newA330 buses were purchased from Dijon and Lausanne, with these being powered by CNG and equipped with automatic climate control. All models combined; 39 are in service as of November 2025.
  • Van Hool AG300: Belgian-made, long articulated bus, the articulated version of the A300. The AG300 is a special type of fully low-floor bus - the engine is located between the first and the second axles, so the third axle can be steered. 32 of them were bought by BKV in the summer of 2009 to ease the lack of modern vehicles. They were built in 2000-2001 and used in Brussels. At BKV they were equipped with automatic climate control, and were repainted into standard colors in 2013. 25 more were purchased in 2015 from Utrecht, these being the newer newAG300. Passengers noticed them for narrow inner space of the fore part, although the back has rather a large standee place. 50 are in service as of December 2025.
  • Solaris Urbino 10: Polish made, long low-floor midibuses, having entered service sporadically from 2017 to 2024. These buses mostly serve less frequented routes in the suburbs. 7 are in service as of December 2025.
  • Ikarus E91: Hungarian-made, long midibuses, bought from Riga, where they served from 2001 to 2019, and later entered service in 2020 in Budapest. 2 are in service as of December 2025.
  • Karsan Atak: Turkish-made, long partially low-floor midibuses, that were ordered to replace the aging Ikarus 405 buses on the routes around Buda Castle. As of December 2025, 15 remain in service, but are very controversial due to their flammable nature.
  • Modulo Medio Electric: Hungarian-made, long low-floor electric midibuses. The first prototype was shown in 2014, with 20 buses entering service in 2016. Similarly to the Karsan Atak buses, these mostly serve the Buda Castle, but also occasionally less populated suburban routes. As with other midibuses, these are also prone to catching flames, and combined with their poor built quality and lack of sufficient spare parts, they were criticized from the first moment. 6 remain in service as of December 2025.
  • Renault Master '/ Vehixel Cytios 3 / Mercedes-Benz Sprinter': Serving routes exclusively pre-reserved by phonecalls, these microbuses appeal to elderly or disabled people. Only a small amount of them are in service, as not many of these routes exist yet. All models combined; 14 are in service as of December 2025, with most having been bought used.