After Budapest, Debrecen has also established a fare community for public transport. In the future, the Hajdú-Bihar county pass will be valid on public transport vehicles in Debrecen, while local DKV passes will also be accepted on Volán and MÁV services within the county, the Minister of Construction and Transport announced at a press conference in Debrecen on Tuesday.
János Lázár said that under the agreement signed with the city on Tuesday, which will enter into force on December 24, passengers will save between 5,000 and 10,000 forints per month under the new fare system.
He noted that while until now 242,000 county passes had been sold in Hajdú-Bihar and 625,000 local public transport (DKV) passes, in the future travelers in the region will be able to use both local and intercity services with a single pass. A student pass in Debrecen previously cost 5,500 forints; in the future, students will be able to travel with a 945-forint county pass.
The MÁV–Volán Group will compensate Debrecen with 3.4 billion forints for lost revenues, the minister said, adding that even the full-price county pass will allow cheaper travel after the introduction of the fare community than the current DKV pass.
The government continues to regard Debrecen as the capital of the countryside, where a new regional center may emerge. Hungary can finally move beyond being a “single-pole, Budapest-centered country” and become one in which regional power centers—economic, intellectual, and scientific hubs—also exist outside the capital, the minister emphasized. He reaffirmed that their goal is for Debrecen to become the strongest, wealthiest, and most attractive city in the eastern part of the Carpathian Basin.
According to János Lázár, Debrecen is already in a unique position, with a population exceeding 200,000, and the coming years hold significant change, explosive development, and growth for the city.
“For us in Fidesz, over the past 15 years, if I were to sum up our governance, the human being has stood at the center of our program, (…) people have always been the most important,” he said.
He added that in Hajdú-Bihar County there were 185,000 jobs in 2010, while by 2025 the number of employed people will reach 250,000 out of a population of 520,000. At that time, 50,000 people were seeking work; today fewer than 10,000 are unemployed across the entire county. Back then, the gross average wage in the county was 185,600 forints; today it is 620,000 forints, the minister listed.
He pointed out that they are building a work-based society rather than one based on benefits, with commuting to work as a key element. To facilitate this, national and county passes were introduced in 2023, and this year 24.6 million passes have already been sold, “an unprecedented volume.”
He said that the agreement signed between the government and the city establishes a fare community in Hajdú-Bihar County, in Debrecen, based on the mutual acceptance of passes.
“This brings us closer to the idea of having a unified transport system in Hungary, where, in order to make people’s lives easier and guarantee transport and mobility, a single fee would allow people to travel anywhere,” János Lázár stressed.
He added that 242,000 passes have recently been sold in Hajdú-Bihar County, while in Debrecen the number of full-price and discounted passes in 2025 will total 625,000.
“The city’s and the government’s Christmas gift to the people of Debrecen is this agreement, which will take effect from December 24,” he said, adding that from then on, travel in Debrecen will be possible with a single pass.
The minister referred to an earlier financial agreement under which the government contributes five billion forints to the 15-billion-forint operating costs of Debrecen’s public transport.
The budgetary support has already been decided for this year, commitments have been made for next year, and from 2027 it will be built into the budget. Under the agreement signed now, the MÁV–Volán Group will pay 3.4 billion forints to compensate Debrecen for revenue losses resulting from the fare community, he explained.
The minister described the agreement with Debrecen as exemplary, as it makes transport cheaper for residents of the city and the county in and around the county seat.
László Papp (Fidesz–KDNP), Mayor of Debrecen, also illustrated with passenger numbers why “it is worth investing in Debrecen.” He recalled that in 2013 local public transport carried 77 million passengers; this figure exceeds 93 million this year and will soon rise above 100 million.
He also spoke about how the introduction of free travel for children aged 6–14 in local public transport in April 2024, through the Junior Debrecen City Card, significantly increased demand and helped ease families’ financial burdens. The annual savings available through the card amount to 66,000 forints for one child, 132,000 forints for two children, and 198,000 forints for three children.
The mayor announced that at its meeting on December 18, the city council may decide to extend eligibility for the Junior City Card from May 1, 2026, to students of all public education institutions operating in Hajdú-Bihar County. In addition to free travel, this will provide access to numerous discounts, which county youths will be able to use—until the cards are produced—by presenting proof of identity.
Answering a question at the press conference, János Lázár said that next year the MÁV Palace located next to the Old Town Hall in downtown Debrecen will be sold, and he pledged that the proceeds from the sale would be reinvested in local developments.
(MTI)
