The Municipality of Esztergom – together with Volánbusz Zrt. – introduced a new bus network and schedule scheme in the city after almost a year of preparation, with the professional support of Mobilissimus. The new system provides better line coverage, and the synergy between the local and suburban bus lines has been improved. The follow-up of the changes has been continuous ever since.
A new, intermodal terminal has opened in the summer of 2020, that created an important transfer-hub between trains and buses in Esztergom. This new infrastructural improvement showed a lot of potential, so after the evaluation of the situation, Volánbusz has decided to drastically improve the service level, that turned out to be necessary.
One of the main reasons behind the modifications of the local and suburban bus schedules was to offer a balanced service level, and to reduce the noise pollution generated by the buses within the residential areas of the city, especially during the periods when the demand for travel is less (during early and late morning, and evening). The routes of the suburban lines, that approach Esztergom from the south have been modified in a way that allows the students and workers from the agglomeration to reach their destination (schools and workplaces in the northern part of the city) with direct transport connections, and to provide direct access for the hospital, market and city centre as well during daytime. (To achieve the noise reduction goals, suburban buses only run till the railway station during early mornings and nights, where transfer options to the local lines are provided.)
The suburban network, that has a significant role in the local transport was a limitation during the planning process, that had to be accepted. However, this situation also created an opportunity to integrate the suburban lines into the local network to create a more complex and effective service. An important principle during the planning phase was to make logical, easy to understand routes and line numberings in and outside Esztergom, instead of the difficult and illogical system that was present before: suburban lines are numbered with 8xx, while local lines are marked with letters. With the help of this new principle, lines that both have urban and suburban roles in the same time are now clearly marked and can be identified easily inside Esztergom. Since the Budapest – Esztergom railway line is served by new, modern electric trainsets only, with an interval-based 30-minutes frequency during almost the whole day, this means of transport is getting more and more popular in the region, and have more and more passengers, so the new bus network had to respond to the increasing demand as well.
The new network, designed by Mobilissimus has the following main characteristics:
- Connections for every arriving and departing train is offered at the main railway station to and from Rákóczi tér, Bazilika, Bánomi lakótelep, Bánomi út and the hospital. There is also a planned connection at Kertváros railway station every hour for trains to and from Budapest.
- 5-10 minutes peak-hour frequency between downtown and Bánomi lakótelep (10-20 minutes during off-peak periods and weekends), with the help of the synchronized timetables of the urban and suburban lines.
- New round-trip lines have been introduced (marked with A and B), that create services to Bánomi lakótelep from directions that were not served before.
- Bánomi út has been made part of the network again, new stops were implemented in this area as well.
- Part of the lines use the Látóhegyi út – Dobogókői út route between Kertváros and downtown (lines A and B), so this neighbourhood’s workplaces and commercial areas became available from every part of the city.
- Doubled frequency in Kertváros-Tófürdő during peak periods.
- Several new offered services (lines) around the hospital.
- Several new bus stops were implemented in the city, that extend network coverage
- Some bus stops received updated names to avoid confusions
Client:
Esztergom City with County Rights
Year of fulfilment:
From 2022 continuously
