Ticket lines trap tourists at Budapest railway station

An exposé by Hungarian television station RTL Klub alleges that people trying to leave Hungary via train have to wait up to three hours in order to purchase tickets, due to inefficiencies in state railway MÁV's ticketing operations.

According to business daily Világgazdaság, which summarized the report, outbound international travelers at Budapest's Keleti Pályaudvar (eastern railway station) have been left sitting or laying on the floor for hours while ticket clerks search for the information needed in books and write the tickets by hand - a situation which invariably colors their impression of Budapest and Hungary.

The daily notes that the problem could probably be solved or improved by the hiring of more employees, but representatives of MÁV said this was currently impossible, while the railway is similar unable to say when its plans to switch to computerized ticketing will be implemented.

In the meantime, MÁV says it will introduce one improvement to ease the burden on travelers, putting down wooden planks near the ticket office so those who are forced to wait do not have to sit on the floor.

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