Hungarian railways launches online ticketing

Hungarian state railway company MÁV launched online ticket sales on 16 June, writes index.hu. The use of the online system is simple and easy, and tickets can be collected without waiting at special terminals at the assigned station. Selling tickets online has the lowest operational costs and saves passengers time at the station.

Unlike previous attempts, the recently launched site is a genuine online ticket sales system. Following a quick registration process, the train can be selected on the interactive railway schedule Elvira, from where tickets can be bought by credit card. Once the payment has been made, the passenger receives a ten number code to be entered into the ticket terminal, which then prints out the ticket. Although passengers are not yet able to print tickets at home, the new service represents a major step forward.

MÁV originally planned to launch online ticketing in February, but suffered delays. Ten of the sixty planned terminals have been installed so far, at Keleti, Déli and Nyugati stations, as well as at the main stations in Miskolc and Debrecen. MÁV promises to have 40 terminals installed by the beginning of September. The terminals are installed in pairs, and, according to index.hu, collecting the tickets takes only a matter of seconds. Surcharge tickets for InterCity trains and seat reservation tickets can also be bought online, and all discounts can be applied.

MÁV has been planning to introduce the system for nearly a decade. There was a similar attempt earlier, when tickets for Intercity trains could be reserved online, and purchased at the station, originally at least one day prior to the departure. This time frame was later reduced to half an hour.

The system was introduced almost in secret because MÁV management was afraid it would fail, but there have been no problems so far.

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