Budapest’s Pay&GO Is a Hit: Over 112,000 Metro Tickets Sold in Just One Month

Budapest’s public transport is on a roll — and the numbers prove it. Just one month after BKK (Budapest’s Centre for Budapest Transport) expanded its Pay&GO contactless payment system to the M2, M3, and M4 metro lines, over 67,000 passengers have already embraced the tap-to-ride revolution, purchasing more than 112,000 tickets with a single touch of their bank card or smartphone.

A Month of Record-Breaking Taps

The figures are hard to ignore. Since the April 22 expansion, the M3 line alone recorded more than 53,000 Pay&GO ticket sales, making it the busiest line for contactless payments. The M2 followed with nearly 35,000 tickets, and the M4 rounded out the trio with around 24,000 sales. The most popular stations reflect the city’s busiest transit hubs: Nyugati Railway Station on the M3, Batthyány tér and Kossuth Lajos tér on the M2, and Kelenföld and Keleti Railway Station on the M4.

Perhaps most telling is this: Pay&GO now accounts for 12% of all single tickets sold across the network. For a system that only expanded to the main metro lines a month ago, that’s a remarkable market share — and it’s growing daily.

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From Tourist Favourite to Everyday Essential

When Pay&GO first launched in 2023 on the 100E Airport Express and the M1 Millennium Underground, it quickly became a go-to for international visitors who wanted to skip the ticket machine and tap their way through the city. But something interesting has happened since the metro expansion: locals are catching on fast. Before April 22, only about 10% of Pay&GO transactions were made with Hungarian-issued cards. That figure has nearly doubled to close to 20% in just one month — a clear sign that this is no longer just a tourist tool, but a mainstream way to travel in Budapest.

Five Million Tickets and Counting

Zoom out to the bigger picture and the success story becomes even more impressive. Since Pay&GO’s launch in June 2023, Budapest commuters and visitors have collectively tapped through more than 5 million journeys. The April expansion alone added 112,000 of those in a single month. With more than 40% of BKK’s total revenue now flowing through mobile and digital ticketing channels, it’s clear that Budapest’s transit transformation is well and truly underway.

What’s Next for Pay&GO

BKK isn’t stopping here. The current system focuses on single-ticket purchases, but future plans include passes, discount fares, and daily or weekly spending caps — making it just as convenient for regular commuters as it already is for occasional riders. By 2028, the goal is to roll Pay&GO out across the entire Budapest metropolitan transit network, covering buses, trams, and suburban rail lines. For anyone travelling to Budapest now or in the coming years, the city’s public transport is getting faster, smarter, and more welcoming with every tap.

Using Pay&GO couldn’t be simpler: just touch your contactless bank card or NFC-enabled device to the validator at any metro entrance on the M1, M2, M3, M4, or the 100E Airport Express. One tap buys and validates your ticket instantly — no queues, no cash, no hassle.