Eurail Hungary Rail Travel Pass The Hungary Pass allows you 5 days of train travel within 15 day period or 10 days of train travel within a month period. One of the most popular single country passes, the Hungary Pass allows options that will fit any travel itinerary.

With Eurail’s dense railway network in Hungary, you can get where you want to go easily and conveniently. Windsurf on Lake Balaton, the warmest lake in Central Europe, or tour historic Budapest on the Danube River with the Hungary Pass.

The Eurail Hungary Pass Entitles You To:

• The Eurail Hungary Pass entitles you to unlimited travel in Hungary
• Available for 5 days of travel within a 15 day period or 10 days of travel within a 1 month period.
• The Pass is available in 1st class for individual travelers.
• Saver passes are for groups of two or more people traveling together.
• For travelers under 26 years of age, there is a reduced price Youth Pass in 2nd class available.
• Children aged 6 up to and including 14 years of age get 50% discount on the full fare.
• Children under 5 travel free.
• The Eurail Hungary Pass also entitles you to bonuses and discounts on some nostalgic Hungarian train rides, the Hungarian Heritage Railway Park, and the Hilton Hotel in Budapest.
• With the purchase of a Eurail Pass you will receive a free Eurail Traveler's Guide with a railway map of Europe and a Eurail Timetable with the main rail connections in Europe.
• The Eurail Holland Pass also entitles you to benefit from bonuses, such as reduced fares for the ferry to Harwich and Newcastle in the UK and discounts at Hilton Hotels.
• Moreover, with the purchase of a Eurail Pass you will receive a free Eurail Traveler's Guide with a railway map of Europe and a Eurail Timetable with the main rail connections in Europe.

Using Your Eurail Hungary Rail Pass

• Always have your pass validated prior to your first train trip in Europe. Do NOT validate it yourself.
• Passes are issued on identity, not to be used by any other person.
• The Flexi Passes have a schedule with boxes to fill in the date of travel. Always fill in the boxes yourself before embarking on the train.
• When taking an overnight train leaving after 7 pm, please fill in the next day of travel in your Flexi Passes. Travel days would have to be within the validity of the pass.
• There are free bonus and discounted bonus that entitle you to reductions with every pass your purchase.
• When you use a free bonus, you will have to use a day of your pass. A discounted bonus will not utilize any day of your pass.
  
  

HUNGARY RAIL TRAVEL PASS - View Pass Prices and Purchase Online Eurail Hungary Adult Rail Pass (individual 26yrs and older) Eurail Hungary Youth Rail Pass (individual 25yrs and younger) Eurail Hungary Saver Rail Pass (2-9 passengers traveling together) View information on all other available Eurail Travel Passes

More About Hungary Rail Travel

Hungary and Austria jointly manage the cross-border standard-gauge railway between Győr–Sopron–Ebenfurt (GYSEV/ROeEE), a distance of about 101 km in Hungary and 65 km in Austria.

In Budapest, the three main railway stations are the Eastern (Keleti), Western (Nyugati) and Southern (Déli), with other outlying stations like Kelenföld. Of the three, the Southern is the most modern but the Eastern is probably the most decorative and architecturally interesting.

Other important railway stations countrywide include Tiszai Railway Station, Miskolc.

The only city with an underground railway system is Budapest with its Metro.

The Royal Hungarian Express
(luxury train - not included on rail pass)

The train comprises sleeping cars from the former Hungarian Government's private train, with historic dining cars and locomotives. As well as Hungarian heads of state the train has hosted many leaders including President Nixon and the Queen of Denmark. All these vehicles are now preserved as part of the Hungarian National Railway Museum collection.

Accommodation on board is in two-berth sleeping compartments, finished in panelled mahogany with a washbasin. Showers are available in each sleeping car. Each car has its own attendant who will make up your bed and bring that essential early morning cup of tea. A number of Presidential suites are available offering a small double bed, shower and WC.

All meals are freshly prepared and served in the historic dining car. Wine with meals are included as are drinks whilst on board (excluding spirits). There is also a bar and lounge car, the ideal place to relax while being entertained by Apollo on the piano.

The train is steam hauled on the first day. On subsequent days the engine is an historic diesel from the fifties.

History of Hungarian Rail

The first steam engine railway line was opened on July 15, 1846 between Pest and Vác. This date is regarded as the birth date of Hungarian railways. Romantic poet Sándor Petőfi, who later became the leader of the 1848's national revolution, rode on the first train and wrote a poem on the occasion, predicting rails will connect Hungary like blood vessels in the human body.

During the industrial development following the Ausgleich (1867) the standard gauge railway system developed quickly, and soon all the major cities were connected to each other by railway lines. The company of Ábrahám Ganz invented a method of "crust-casting" to produce cheap, yet sturdy iron railway wheels, which greatly contributed to railway development in Central Europe. The golden age of Hungarian rail culture culminated in 1900's top medal for the new express steam locomotive at the Paris World Fair and MÁV's chief engineer Kálmán Kandó designing the first-ever standard gauge AC electrified railway in Italy, 1902.

At the end of WWI, the peace treaty of Trianon banned Hungary from building any more standard or large gauge railway paths with more than one track or construct any new railway bridges, in order to limit the railway network's usefulness from a military point of view. This restriction was abolished only in 1947 and did a lot of damage to the Hungarian railway infrastructure, whose topology remains very Budapest-centric to this day, since there was little desire to create new routes with reduced usability.

Between the world wars, development focused on existing multiple track lanes, some of which were electrified, based on Kandó's patent on 16/25kV 50Hz AC traction and his newly designed Type V41 locomotive, which featured "tempomat" system for easy operator training and steam-style pushrod drivetrain to facilitate smooth transition in maintenance. Most main lines cargo and passenger trains were hauled by the "Type 424" steam locomotive, which became the late steam era workhorse of MÁV. Yet the majority of MÁV's passenger network remained steam based with slow pre-WWI locomotives and 3rd class "wooden bench" carriages (called "fapados" in Hungarian, which name is nowadays applied to low-cost airlines).

During late WWII the Hungarian railway system suffered tremendous destruction, not a single piece of rolling stock survived, most were destroyed, the rest evacuated to Germany and later confiscated as soviet war reparation. A large amount of track was converted to 1524mm wide gauge by the advancing Red Army troops and several central stations were destroyed in allied carpet bombardment.

After World War II the railway system played an important role in rebuilding the country. Most of towing was done by surplus US-made Lend-Lease steam locomotives, which the Soviet Union offered as economic aid, but several of the legendary "Type 424" steam engines were also rebuilt from wrecks and hulks.

The failure of "eocen mining programme" showed Hungary's lack of long-term indigenous coal reserves and opened the way to large scale electrification as well as diesel traction. The steam era in Hungary began to fade by the mid-60s, but lasted until the late 1970s, when the last rural routes were converted to czech-made 'Bzmot' diesel "rail buses".

By 1964, the German designed, domestically built "Type V43" four-axle 25kV / 50Hz AC electric locomotive entered service and eventually some 450 of this reliable workhorse became the fulcrum of MÁV's traction in passenger as well as freight services. Heavy diesel engines arrived from the USSR (M62) and Sweden-USA (M61), while 60-ton direct drive "M41" diesels were made in the nationalized Ganz factory.

Due to the COMECON's ban on manufacturing private cars in Hungary and lack of import volume, most people in the Hungarian People's Republic did not have access to individual means of distance travel, putting great strain on MÁV's passenger services. Since the Hungarian track network was very lacking in two-lane coverage as well as the strength of pre-WWI embankments, speed increases were not implemented, in some cases trains became slower after the conversion from steam. The majority of track-laying in communist Hungary was done by "workers' squadrons" of the conscription-based People's Army, as a means of unpaid labour, which explains the lack of high-speed trust in the tracks.

To this day 120km/h remains the absolute maximum railway speed in Hungary, but EU funds may become available to upgrade the network, especially tracks that form part of the trans-European corridor. (Since Hungary lies in Central Europe, many important railway lines go through the country). During the 1990's the state-owned MÁV company gradually abandoned its most rural routes, but larger scale passenger service cuts were blocked by political pressure. Still, the quality of generic passenger service deteriorated considerably since Hungary converted to capitalism, as MÁV became more and more focused on the profitable cargo business and relatively few people have access to the higher-quality "Intercity" express trains due to inequal topography of the Hungarian railway network and further expansion is also blocked by lack of quality passenger carriages.

As the post-2000 Hungarian political establishment became very much focused on the perceived "autobahn-gap" with regards to better routed Slovakia and especially Croatia, there is little hope of significant domestic funding for the Hungarian railway infrastructure in the short term. Recent developments include the purchase of one dozen Siemens Desiro diesel rail-buses for suburban routes and the order for swiss Stadler Flirts, a yet-untested type of very advanced electric self-propelled train for medium range shuttle paths, which is mired in a biased selection scandal against Bombardier's more established, but conservatively engineered Talent trains.

With Eurail’s dense railway network in Hungary, you can get where you want to go easily and conveniently. Windsurf on Lake Balaton, the warmest lake in Central Europe, or tour historic Budapest on the Danube River with the Hungary Pass.

HUNGARY RAIL TRAVEL PASS - View Pass Prices and Purchase Online Eurail Hungary Adult Rail Pass (individual 26yrs and older) Eurail Hungary Youth Rail Pass (individual 25yrs and younger) Eurail Hungary Saver Rail Pass (2-9 passengers traveling together) View information on all other available Eurail Travel Passes

Please Note: As Eurail rail travel passes are not able to be purchased in the country of travel advance purchase is essential and will also cost you less.