Explore Budapest’s hidden and special vehicles! – Part 1

Tram, bus, trolley or underground; these are the most common transportation vehicles in almost every city. They play an essential part in making the city vivid and in transferring passengers and tourists from one point to another. Budapest’s transportation system is used by millions of people almost every day. Some vehicles are a bit out of the ordinary, yet they are still worth travelling with. Let us find out more about these hidden transportation treasures in the Hungarian capital.

Millennium Underground Railway

Metro Line 1 (Kisföldalatti = Small Underground) was the first ever underground railway system on the European continent. It was built for the Hungarian Millennium and was one of the greatest novelties of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Its construction became necessary by the turn of the 20th century because the traffic on the ground was growing too heavy for the capital to handle. Also, the government did not want to ruin the beautiful look of Andrássy Avenue with trams on the surface; that is how the idea of the underground was born.

It was finished by April in 1896 by Siemens and Haske, and it was inaugurated by the emperor of Austria-Hungary, Franz Joseph on May 3rd.

The 4.4-kilometer-long line contains eleven stations. The currently operating stations of the yellow line are the following: Vörösmarty Square, Deák Ferenc Square, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Street, Opera, Oktogon, Vörösmarty Street, Kodály Circus, Bajza Street, Heroes’ Square, Széchenyi Bath, Mexikói Street.

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Cogwheel Railway (Tram line 60)

In the 19th century, Sváb Hill (part of Buda) was an area covered by forests, and most people went there to hunt. There were no houses, roads, shops or even lighting, only nature. After a while, people started to realise that the modernisation of Sváb Hill with a railway line would be beneficial for the capital. In 1873, the contract about building the railway was born, and construction works started one year later on April 22nd.

On June 24, 1874, the first train set out on its first journey between Városmajor (still one of the end stations of the railway, located next to Széll Kálmán Square) and Sváb Hill stations. In 1890, the railway was extended with more stations to Széchenyi Hill (the other end station).

In 1929, the first modernisation happened on the railway, but after World War II, the cogwheel railway had to be rebuilt emtirely. The second big modernisation project occurred in 1973, and after the 1990s, the railway was wholly integrated into the capital’s transportation system.