Owing to its direct transfer connection between three out of the four metro lines Budapest has and its downtown location, it is one of the busiest stations in the system.

It was opened on 2 May 1896 as part of the inaugural section of the Budapest Metro, between Vörösmarty tér and Széchenyi fürdő.

[1] As part of the construction of the M2, a large-scale underpass system was created under the square, which called in question the fate of the section of M1 tunnel abandoned in the 1950s.

[2][3] In 1976, the station became the northern terminus for the first segment of metro line M3, which opened on 31 December 1976 to Nagyvárad tér.

This non-revenue connection tunnel was the means of supplying rolling stock to line M3 from 1976 until it was completed to Kőbánya-Kispest and the adjacent new depot in 1980.