The 130 years of trams in Budapest

The tram network in Budapest was one of the first of its kind in Europe, as Zoom.hu highlighted. It is still functioning, celebrating its 130th birthday today. But how did this type of transport develop during more than one and a quarter centuries? Let us take a ride on the tram of time.

The very first tram in Budapest began operating at 2:30 pm on 28 November 1887. It was travelling between the Nyugati railway station and Király Street.  It was seven years after the first tram in the world was inaugurated in 1881 in Gross-Lichterfelde, Germany. The first tram rake in Budapest was produced by Siemens-Halske.

The tram was designed for functioning in the summer first: it’s structure was open and they were equipped with furnaces.

The blue and green rake was travelling on a one-kilometer-long track with only one platform, and its speed was limited to 10 km/h. It could proceed through Oktogon only very slowly. The cables were installed below the rakes first, to avoid hanging them over the streets. This method was used in Budapest until 1924.

The first normal track — that’s gauge was 1,435 millimeters long — was finished on 30 June 1889 by BVVV (Budapest Electric City Trains). It was travelling from the Egyetem Square through Kecskemét Street, Kálvin Square, Baross Street (which was called “Stáció” at that time) to Orczy Square. A tram was also going through Podmaniczky Street later. BVVV replaced the test railways on Nagykörút with a line with normal gauge. This was later extended to the Kerepesi Street and the Üllői Street.

Budapest Road Rail Company (BKVT) began to replace horse railways with electric ones from 1894 on, because feeding the horses cost more than electricity. The last horse railway was removed in 1898.