Almost half a million people took the train to Lake Balaton in two weeks, an 80 percent increase in traffic (!)

"Two hundred thousand people took the train to Lake Balaton from somewhere," he responded to MÁV-START's latest statistical data, according to which, in the two weeks following the June 18 summer schedule change, 458 thousand people chose the railway to the lake shore, compared to 258 thousand in 2019 and 310 thousand last year. Compared to the same period before the epidemic situation, 200,000 more people bought tickets for Balaton flights.  

From the middle of June, the high-season railway timetable brought a significant expansion of supply. The sweltering heat and the festival season starting on the lakeside also had a big impact on the traffic of the Balaton trains. It will be worth looking at the spectacularly rising figures after the first full month, but it is already clear that more people than ever are getting on and taking trains towards the Hungarian sea - ITM commented on the data.

According to MÁV-START's calculations, we can talk about an 80 percent increase in traffic, which is mostly generated by the south coast. Seven out of ten passengers choose a destination between Aliga and Balatonszentgyörgy.

The vast majority of train passengers come from other parts of the country, and it is getting easier for them, since there have never been direct flights to the lake from as many domestic cities as this year. 241,000 people decided in favor of the ICs that split along the waterfront, the most popular being the Jégmadár, which runs from Szob to Fonyód with double-decker trains, with a utilization rate of close to 98 percent.

But compared to three years ago, traffic between coastal settlements has also doubled.

The data from May and early June also showed that even before the start of the vacation, more people took the train to Lake Balaton than in 2019, during the peak season in August. The new passenger numbers show even more that with the significant expansion of the offer during the high season, we can get to the lake shore more and more conveniently and quickly by rail, the ministry said in a statement.

Source: Pest Boys

Image: MÁV