"Our story began when we arrived at the train station in Budapest after a wonderful trip from Austria. We reached the central station and tried to buy tickets for public transportation. My husband and I purchased two tickets for adults ages 25–65. Then we started looking for tickets for our daughters, ages 10 and 13, but couldn’t find any. There was no one around to help us, so we turned to the internet. Online, it said that public transportation was free for children of their age. That made sense to us, especially since there didn’t seem to be tickets available for them. In our innocence, we had no idea this was a tactic to trap tourists and fine them. We thought, worst case, we’d confirm it at the next station and buy tickets if necessary. We’ve always been very law-abiding.

We boarded the train without any trouble and rode one stop to our hotel. But at the next station, we were met with the most shocking scene imaginable. A man and a woman in uniform suddenly pounced on us. We were stunned and never imagined this was about tickets. The man behaved like some kind of interrogator—angry, shouting at us. We just wanted to know what we’d done wrong. He said we hadn’t bought tickets for our daughters and that this was a serious offense. Shaken and frightened, we told him we had no intention of breaking the law and asked what we should do. He just kept repeating, like a parrot, “Public transportation is free for children under six.”

We tried to explain ourselves, but he fined us about €30 per child. All this over €60? Are you serious? Terrifying people and nearly giving them a heart attack over €60? Unbelievable. Eventually, he let us go, but we were left exhausted, shaken, and scared. We didn’t dare speak up or complain—he never even gave us the chance to explain.

It was a nightmare, a truly frightening scene. Later, we saw even more of the city’s unpleasant side: people yelling, stepping on your feet and shouting, doing everything possible to make sure you’d never want to return. Needless to say, we will never, ever go back."

Zaher Farraj

"The transportation system(infrastructure) may not be the main concern, but much rather the employees of this company such as the ticket inspectors who rob you of your money or at least mend the situation is a way so that they can fine you. A disgrace to public transportation and city mobility.
Apart from the unprofessional manner in which the ticket solicitor behaved and the precarious appearance(pungent smell and very bad hygiene) of his, the city doesn't dispose of a practical, easy-to-use, integrated system of ticket machines, since they are not common to find in stations and require quite a long walk which may lead to miss your tram/ bus.
All in all, it was an unwelcoming, stressful and awkward situation which the city doesn't care solving."

Laurentiu Zele

"The seats are dirty and uncomfortable, and it’s often difficult to find enough space during the day. The air can also be quite unpleasant. While there are occasional delays, planning your trip is generally easy. However, the ticket inspectors are very rude and condescending toward tourists, behaving as if they’re looking for a reason to fine you even when you have a valid ticket."

Elise Karlstad