The railway station at Etele Squre is the fourth busiest station in Budapest. It is accessible by underground, buses and trams from downtown as well as buses from satellite towns.

The history of Kelenföld Railway Station dates back to 1861 when Déli (Southern) Railway Station was built by the Austrian-owned Déli Railways Company. Trains to Rijeka started from here. At the same time a tunnel of 350 meters under Gellért Hill was constructed, which is the longest in Hungary. This was an exceptional engineering achievement at the time not only for its length but its curved track also. Later it was even deepened to gain space for overhead lines.

Kelenföld Railway Station was built along this track in 1876 with a building twice as big as typical stations at the time.

The station obtained a key importance when the Southern Connecting Bridge was constructed in 1877, which connected the southern network with Pest and Eastern Hungary. Trains from Belgrade, Pécs, Lake Balaton and Austria passed through here.

Over the next years additional rail transportation facilities were built to serve the rapid industrial development of Budapest. Following WW1 further developments were needed to facilitate freight transport and logistics. During WW2 Déli Railway Station was badly damaged and the Connecting Railway Bridge was demolished. These sad events put the station of Kelenföld in the key role of replacing missing capacities. Freight transport restarted only in 1946 when the bridge was partially restored.

Remodeling the station had been planned since 1950. After electrification in 1932 and 1980 enhanced traffic required the construction of a two-level track. During this project the station, with the exception of the terminal building, was remodeled. Platforms and underpasses were also built. Road constructions along Etele Street and Hengermalom Street granted a shorter access to Rákóczi Bridge.

The general remodeling from 1978 to 1987 included the installation of overhead lines between Déli and Kelenföld Stations, building the underpass to connect Etele Square with Őrmező.

In 2014, a new underpass was built to underground line 4 with an elevator and escalators.

The coach station from Kosztolányi Dezső Square moved to Etele Squre in 1999 and was modernized in 2014 when the underground station opened.

The Hungarian Railway Company had plans to pull down the old main building for its poor condition and build a new one, however, in 2007 that marked its 125th anniversary it gained a listed status.