Renewed Chain Bridge Inaugurated

The renovated Lánchíd (‘Chain Bridge’) was inaugurated on Friday, opening it to pedestrians. Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony said at the inauguration that the renovation of the bridge was completed on time and within budget.

The Mayor said that the Chain Bridge is not just an artefact, a bridge, but a symbol of unity and togetherness. Decades before the unification of the city 150 years ago, the idea had already been born that "we must build bridges, literally and figuratively". It was the Chain Bridge that launched the birth of Budapest, the capital of the nation, he said.

Gergely Karácsony stressed that Budapest is the capital of the nation, and that is why the Chain Bridge is a symbol of the unity not only of the people of Budapest, but also of Budapest and the country as a whole.

Katalin Walter, Director General of the Budapest Transport Center (BKK), that is in charge of the reconstruction, thanked the people of Budapest for their patience and said that the bridge had been reopened to public transport buses, taxis, motorbikes, bicycles and scooters 18 months after its closure.

The head of BKK said she was pleased that the traffic regime proposed by the company as a professional proposal could be maintained as a permanent traffic regime, as decided by the people of Budapest. Buses will be able to cross the bridge more predictably and in a much shorter time, and cyclists will be able to cross more safely than before the renovation, he said.

András Csohány Csohány, CEO of the contractor A-Híd Plc, said Friday marked the end of the renovation of the Chain Bridge, which has been ongoing since 2021. The first 18 months saw the completion of "the largest part of the technical part of the work": the old reinforced concrete deck was demolished and replaced by a new steel deck, the stone surfaces of the bridge were renewed and the chains were given a new corrosion protection coating. This was followed by the restoration of the monuments, he said.

In connection with the completion of the renovation, the Chain Bridge Picnic, organized by the Municipality of Budapest and BKK, started at 6 pm on Friday evening, with educational programs, street musicians, food and drink, "light rays", and after dark, the bridge was illuminated to mark the special occasion.