AS OF TODAY RÁKÓCZI TÉR CAN AGAIN BE USED BY THE BUDAPEST PUBLIC
The surface reinstatement works of the Rákóczi tér station of Metro Line M4 have been completed, and now, after the handing-over procedure, the public of the district and city can take possession of it again. Parallel to the completion of the fit-out and the system construction works and the test operation of the new line without passengers down below, the surface works will soon come to an end, as well. By March 2014, all work phases will have to be completed at every worksite except for the Kelenföld junction, though, naturally, its exit structure and its immediate surroundings will also be finished.
The pavements and road surfaces in Rákóczi tér were opened to traffic already in September 2011, and the final traffic order of the square was also introduced at this time; following this, the contractor completed structural works, pavement coating and landscaping works at the surface. Thus a totally new public area has come into being, definitive from a cityscape point of view, which is significant not only in terms of external beauty, but also transport efficiency.
The square has thus become a genuine recreation spot, with new seating facilities, many newly planted and preserved trees, and a new pool providing fresh air in the vicinity of the Ring. The escalator exit of the station is on the tram-side of the square, while the lift exit with its glass box falls near the Market Hall; and it is here that the 98-car underground garage built in the framework of the project has its exit, which had been handed over in February this year. The true novelty of the square is a mirror structure, which collects light and reflects it to the glass tubes in the middle of the pool, providing natural light down below at the platform level of the metro station.
Mayor’s Office of the Municipality of Budapest
Budapest Transport Centre (BKK)
BKV Zrt. DBR Metro Project Directorate
Photos by Szabolcs Pető, DBR