HUNGARIAN State Railways (MÁV) announced on January 9 details of a major reform in passenger rail pricing, which is due to be introduced on March 1. From this date children under 14 and adults over 65 will travel for free, while young people aged 14-25 will be eligible for half-price fares. The rules appear to apply to all passengers, not just Hungarian and European Union residents.
The announcement comes as several European countries, including Germany, France and Spain, have already made or are in the process of implementing major reforms to domestic rail travel pricing. In Hungary, in addition to the free and reduced travel, half fares will also apply for all public-sector workers and the rail pass system will be simplified.
From March 1 two new passes, County24 and Hungary24, will be introduced. As the names suggest, they permit travel over a 24-hour period within a specified county or within the whole of Hungary for Forints 999 ($US 2.87) and Forints 4999, respectively.
MÁV says the reforms will reduce the number of discounted ticket products to around 20 from the current total of 65. To encourage cashless payment, MÁV will this summer introduce an administration fee of Forints 200 per cash transaction.
National passenger operator MÁV Start revealed this month that in 2023 online ticket purchases equalled those made at ticket offices for the first time ever in Hungary and are expected to overtake them during the course of this year. More than a quarter of total ticket sales (27%) were made via the MÁV mobile app.
