Could the Budapest subway become a shelter?
Looking at the images and videos leaked about the Russian-Ukrainian war, more and more people are wondering what would happen in a similar situation in Hungary. Few know, but Budapest’s metro lines could play an important role in a disaster management situation. How would subways function as a shelter in the Hungarian capital?
Shelter in Budapest
Perhaps a few have heard the fact that the Budapest metro could also operate as a shelter. Unfortunately, this has become relevant again due to the current horrific world political events. One of the most iconic images of the Russian-Ukrainian war is the crowd fleeing to the Kyiv subway from the war.
It is a misconception that the capital’s metro shelter would serve as an atomic bunker.
The construction of the metro lines started in the midst of the threat of the Cold War, writes urbanlegends.hu.
Therefore, it had a dual function during its design. However, the shelter function soon became obsolete. It was an effective shelter against the weapons at the time, but it is almost completely unprotected against today’s technology. Index.hu wrote in an article in 2018 that
there are 687 smaller and 1 huge shelter in Budapest for the event of airstrikes or nuclear strikes.
This huge shelter is an interconnected system of subway tunnels 2 and 3. There is room for up to 220,000 people there. Metro lines M1 and M4 do not play a part.
The metro is an ideal shelter not only because it can accommodate a large crowd but also because the stops open from busy streets and squares, providing easy access. In addition, it is also important that they provide physical protection for those inside, writes raketa.hu.
There is physical protection, but is that enough?
The metro has its own drinking water network.
It is available from so-called tap wells. It also has its own power supply system, which provides 72 hours of continuous operation. In addition, various equipment cleans the surface air and ensures healthy conditions.
However, contrary to legends, there is no food depot in the subway.
Many thought the subway had warehouses to store durable food. However, the station or line warehouse is not filled with food, but there are sanitary facilities and water blocks.
An important advantage of the metro network is that the individual stations can communicate with each other. They can also supply each other with energy or clean air in case of trouble. We can only hope that it is more of a curiosity, and we will never have to use the metro line as shelter.
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Source: index.hu, raketa.hu, urbanlegends.hu