Railways in

Hungary

Horse drawn tram at Magyar Vasúttörténeti Park (Hungarian Railway History Park) in Budapest.

The first railway in Hungary opened in 1846 between Pest and Waitzen (present day Vác), a distance of about 33km. Hungary was at that time part of the Austrian Empire and this was naturally a major influence on railway development, including the choice of standard gauge (1435mm) for main line railway construction.

Besides the main line network, there were many narrow gauge lines, typically of 760mm gauge and used in conjunction with forestry operations. A number of these have survived as tourist railways.

Budapest is the home of the oldest underground city railway in continental Europe. The first section opened in 1896, pre-dating the Paris Métro by 4 years. It was known as Millenniumi Földalatti Vasút (the Millennium Underground Railway), marking the 1000th anniversary of the traditional date for the founding of Hungary by Árpád, leader of the Magyars. This railway now forms the core of an extensive modern metro system.

While the greater part of the Hungarian main line network remained in State control until privatization in the 21st century, one remarkable independent railway (GySEV) has survived wars, the breakup of Empire and a period of Soviet domination to become a significant player in today’s competitive international freight market.

• MÁV Group the former state railways, including:
  • MÁV Start passenger services on the national network
  • MÁV Zrt infrastructure authority
• Győr-Sopron-Ebenfurti Vasut independent passenger and freight railway company on the Austrian - Hungarian border with a remarkable history (Site in Hungarian)
• Regiojet Czech passenger and freight operator with international services (Website primarily devoted to bus services, information about passenger rail services difficult to find, no information about freight services)
• CER freight operator
• Eurogate Rail Hungary freight operator
• Kárpát Vasút freight operator
• LTE freight operator
• MMV freight operator
• PKP Cargo International HU freight operator
• Rail Cargo Group freight operator
• Záhony Port Freight operator, and operator an inland port and point of transshipment for cargo between standard gauge trains from the Hungarian network and 1520mm gauge trains from the Ukraine, thus providing a through freight connection between Western and Eastern Europe
• MÁV Nosztalgia steam hauled historic trains and luxury tourist trains on the Hungarian main line network
• Balatonfenyvesi GV 760mm gauge railway between Balatonfenyves and Somogyszentpál, about 14km. Operated by MÁV. Diesel hauled (No separate website located at present)
• Bezina-völgyi EV 760mm gauge passenger forest railway between Szob and Nagyirtáspuszta, about 14km. Diesel hauled. Connects at Nagyirtáspuszta with Nagybörzsönyi EV (Site in Hungarian)
• Csömödéri ÁEV 760mm gauge forest railway about 109km in length. Tourist passenger services operate between Lenti and Kistolmács, about 32km. Diesel hauled (Site in Hungarian)
• Felsőtárkányi ÁEV 760mm gauge forest railway with tourist passenger services between Felsőtárkány and Stimecz (about 5km) in the Bükki National Park. Diesel hauled (Site in Hungarian)
• Gemenci ÁEV 760mm gauge forest railway with tourist passenger services between Pörböly and Malomtelelő (about 8km) in the Gemenc Forest. Steam or diesel hauled (Site in Hungarian)
• Gyöngyösi ÁEV (Mátravasút) 760mm gauge forest railway with tourist passenger services between Gyöngyös and Szalajkaház, about 13km. Usually diesel hauled with occasional steam specials (Site in Hungarian)
• Hortobágy Kisvasút 760mm gauge tourist passenger railway about 5km in length, formerly seving fisheries in the Hortobágy National Park. Diesel hauled
• Kaszói Kisvasút 760mm gauge forest railway with tourist passenger services between Kaszópuszta and Szenta (about 8km) near Lake Baláta. Steam or diesel hauled (Site in Hungarian)
• Kemencei Erdei Múzeumvasút 600m gauge tourist passenger railway using former logging railway equipment on a 7km line from Kemence, of which about 4km is currently in use. Diesel hauled (Facebook page with majority of posts in Hungarian)
• Királyréti EV 760m gauge tourist passenger railway between Királyrét and Kismaros, about 10km. Diesel hauled.
• LÁEV two diesel or hybrid diesel hauled, 760mm gauge tourist passenger forest railways:
  • Lillafüredi ÁEV Miskolc to Garadna, about 14km. A branch to Ortástető and beyond is currently out of use
  • Pálházi ÁEV Pálháza to Rostalló, about 9km
  (Site in Hungarian)
• Magyar Vasúttörténeti Park (Hungarian Railway History Park) museum in Budapest, on certain days offering rides within the museum grounds on a standard gauge diesel locomotive, rail mounted automobile, handcar, or horse drawn tram. There is also a 184mm (7¼ inch) gauge miniature railway, about 850m in length (Site mainly in Hungarian with a reasonable amount of information in English, difficult to navigate without some knowledge of Hungarian)
• Nagybörzsönyi EV 760mm gauge tourist passenger forest railway between Nagybörzsöny and Nagyirtáspuszta, about 8 km. Diesel hauled. Connects at Nagyirtáspuszta with Bezina-völgyi EV (Site in Hungarian)
• Nyírvidéki Kisvasút proposal to reopen the 760mm gauge line between Nyíregyháza and Sóstógyógyfürdő (about 8 km) for tourist passenger service (No website located at present)
• Szilvásváradi ÁEV 760mm gauge forest railway with tourist passenger services on about 1.5km of line from Szilvásvárad in the Bükki National Park. Steam or hybrid diesel hauled (Site in Hungarian)
• Széchenyi Museum Railway 760mm gauge, steam hauled tourist line, about 6km in length, connecting the station of Fertöboz with the museum at Széchenyi castle (Site in Hungarian and German)
• Children’s Railway 760mm gauge railway, about 11km in length, on the outskirts of Budapest. Diesel hauled. A former Pioneer Railway, still operated by children
• Budapest Metro, trams, local train services, funicular, urban rack railway
• Debrecen trams
• Miskolc trams (Site in Hungarian)
• Szeged trams and tram-trains