Hungarian State Railways
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Hungarian State Railways (Magyar Államvasutak or MÁV) is the railway company of Hungary.
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[edit] History
The first steam engine railway line was opened on July 15, 1846 between Pest and Vác. This date is regarded as the birth date of Hungarian railways. Romantic poet Sándor Petőfi, who later became the leader of the 1848's national revolution, rode on the first train and wrote a poem on the occasion, predicting that rails would connect Hungary like blood vessels in the human body.
During the industrial development following the Ausgleich (1867) the standard gauge railway system developed quickly, and soon all the major cities were connected to each other by railway lines. The company of Ábrahám Ganz invented a method of "crust-casting" to produce cheap, yet sturdy iron railway wheels, which greatly contributed to railway development in Central Europe. The golden age of Hungarian rail culture culminated in 1900's top medal for the new express steam locomotive at the Paris World Fair and MÁV's chief engineer Kálmán Kandó designing the first-ever standard gauge AC electrified railway in Italy, 1902.
At the end of WWI, the peace treaty of Trianon banned Hungary from building any more standard or large gauge railway paths with more than one track or construct any new railway bridges, in order to limit the railway network's usefulness from a military point of view. This restriction was abolished only in 1947 and did a lot of damage to the Hungarian railway infrastructure, whose topology remains very Budapest-centric to this day, since there was little desire to create new routes with reduced usability.
Between the world wars, development focused on existing multiple track lanes, some of which were electrified, based on Kandó's patent on 16/25kV 50 Hz AC traction and his newly designed Type V41 locomotive, which featured "tempomat" system for easy operator training and steam-style pushrod drivetrain to facilitate smooth transition in maintenance. Most main lines cargo and passenger trains were hauled by the "Type 424" steam locomotive, which became the late steam era workhorse of MÁV. Yet the majority of MÁV's passenger network remained steam based with slow pre-WWI locomotives and 3rd class "wooden bench" carriages (called "fapados" in Hungarian, which name is nowadays applied to low-cost airlines).
During late WWII the Hungarian railway system suffered tremendous destruction, not a single piece of rolling stock survived, most were destroyed, the rest evacuated to Germany and later confiscated as Soviet war reparation. A large amount of track was converted to 1524mm wide gauge by the advancing Red Army troops and several central stations were destroyed in allied carpet bombardment.
After World War II the railway system played an important role in rebuilding the country. Most of towing was done by surplus US-made Lend-Lease steam locomotives, which the Soviet Union offered as economic aid, but several of the legendary "Type 424" steam engines were also rebuilt from wrecks and hulks.
The failure of "eocen mining programme" showed Hungary's lack of long-term indigenous coal reserves and opened the way to large scale electrification as well as diesel traction. The steam era in Hungary began to fade by the mid-60s, but lasted until the late 1970s, when the last rural routes were converted to Czech-made 'Bzmot' diesel "rail buses".
By 1964, the German designed, domestically built "Type V43" four-axle 25kV / 50 Hz AC electric locomotive entered service and eventually some 450 of this reliable workhorse became the fulcrum of MÁV's traction in passenger as well as freight services. Heavy diesel engines arrived from the USSR (M62) and Sweden-USA (M61), while 60-ton direct drive "M41" diesels were made in the nationalized Ganz-MÁVAG factory.
Due to the COMECON's ban on manufacturing private cars in Hungary and lack of import volume, most people in the Hungarian People's Republic did not have access to individual means of distance travel, putting great strain on MÁV's passenger services. Since the Hungarian track network was very lacking in two-lane coverage as well as the strength of pre-WWI embankments, speed increases were not implemented, in some cases trains became slower after the conversion from steam. The majority of track-laying in communist Hungary was done by "workers' squadrons" of the conscription-based People's Army, as a means of unpaid labour, which explains the lack of high-speed trust in the tracks.
To this day 120km/h (particularly 160km/h) remains the maximum railway speed in Hungary, but EU funds may become available to upgrade the network, especially tracks that form part of the trans-European corridor. (Since Hungary lies in Central Europe, many important railway lines go through the country). During the 1990's the state-owned MÁV company gradually abandoned its most rural routes, but larger scale passenger service cuts were blocked by political pressure. Still, the quality of generic passenger service deteriorated considerably since Hungary converted to capitalism, as MÁV became more and more focused on the profitable cargo business and relatively few people have access to the higher-quality "Intercity" express trains due to inequal topography of the Hungarian railway network and further expansion is also blocked by lack of quality passenger carriages.
As the post-2000 Hungarian political establishment became very much focused on the perceived "autobahn-gap" with regards to better routed Slovakia and especially Croatia, there is little hope of significant domestic funding for the Hungarian railway infrastructure in the short term. Recent developments include the purchase of one dozen Siemens Desiro diesel rail-buses for suburban routes and the order for swiss Stadler Flirts, a yet-untested type of very advanced electric self-propelled train for medium range shuttle paths, which is mired in a biased selection scandal against Bombardier's more established, but conservatively engineered Talent trains.
The GySEV (Győr–Sopron–Ebenfurti Vasút Rt.) line (connecting two Hungarian and one Austrian city) is managed jointly by the two states.
[edit] Rural service changes 2007
In 7 December 2006, as part of a broader economic restriction package, the Hungarian government announced its intention to stop operation on 14 regional lines with a total length of 474 km. The first plans of János Kóka, Minister of Economy and Traffic, were more radical with abandoning 26 lines (or 12 % of the entire network) but they were met with strong opposition from the local municipalities, parliamentary opposition parties and civil organizations. The main opposition party claimed that these measures are directed against the countryside, especially the small villages. The government claimed that the trains would be replaced by the Volán busing company's routes, which will increase speed and reduce expenses. The issue was heavily politicized. Since the government tried to avoid costly environmental protection and recultivation regulations, the railway lines were not be formally ceased, with the tracks removed, just the service suspended indefinitely.
On 4 March 2007 service was suspended on 14 lines: Pápa-Környe, Pápa-Csorna, Zalabér-Zalaszentgrót, Lepsény-Hajmáskér, Sellye-Villány, Diósjenő-Romhány, Kisterenye-Kál-Kápolna, Mezőcsát-Nyékládháza, Kazincbarcika-Rudabánya, Nyíradony-Nagykálló, Békés-Murony, Kunszentmiklós-Dunapataj, Fülöpszállás-Kecskemét and Kiskőrös-Kalocsa.
[edit] Railway stations
[edit] Budapest
[edit] Miskolc
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[edit] Statistics
- Railway lines total: 7,606 km
- Standard gauge: 7,394 km
- Broad gauge: 36 km
- Narrow gauge: 176 km
Note: Only the standard gauge railways are operated by the State Railways. Narrow gauge railways are run by State Forest companies or local non-profit organisations. See also Narrow gauge railways in Hungary.
[edit] Prices
At some lines only the 2nd class is available.
Ticket prices on InterCity lines (faster and more comfortable) are a bit more expensive because you have to reservate a seat. (550 Ft on 2nd class)
[edit] Reductions
Students with valid Student Card and children between the age of 6 and 14 can get tickets 67.5% cheaper. Those under 26 years from EU countries may have a discount of 33%. Children under 6 years and seniors over 65 years from EU countries may travel without charge.
There are further discounts as well for families, kindergartner and student groups, group of children in state care, civil servants, pensioners, sportspeople for competitions, the blind with their companion, hearing-impaired persons, backward children with companion, handicapped people from old people's homes with their companions or visitors, war invalids and war widows, and anyone going to officially published events.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
