Introduction

Budapest is a lovely city in the heart of Europe: the capital of Hungary, and also one of the first places to pioneer such important transportation achievements as electric trams (1887) and subways (1896). Although the tram network has shrinked to the fragment of its original size over the last four decades, it's still quite large, and its importance in the city's daily life is still vital. One of my big sorrows is that all this is very poorly known in the world, so what you see here is a "patriotic" effort to show tram-enthusiasts from other countries what they're missing. Of course this is not an official atlas, so it will be full of personal remarks and feelings, which might be different from the "official" point of view.

First I'll try to introduce our history to you, and I think this will explain a few unusual things about the city. Then we will look at the city itself. After that, we will see how our urban public transportation once worked and how it works now. You'll also get to know a few important companies, offices, and also a few hungarian words which might help you getting around. Then I'll introduce you the rolling stock. The bigest undertaking will be a clickable map of the tram network, which will surely be incomplete for a while, and then slowly filled up with photos and descriptions of the clickable places (e.g. streets, junctions, squares, interesting locations, depots), when I have some spare time. At the end you'll also be introduced to a few other transportation means, like the vicinal (suburban) and state railways.

This is "my" Budapest, and these are "my" trams - enjoy your stay! :-)

A word from our sponsor

Nah, there is no sponsor :-) This page is made in my free time: I do it for fun, and because it's a nice thing to know that I was able to help people in two of my favorite topics: trams and Budapest. If you liked it, I'd be mostly honored if you buy me something off my amazon.co.uk Wish List!

Falls Du ein gutmütiger Millionär bist - oder zumindest ein grosszügiger Strassenbahnfreund, der sich sowas leisten kann -, hier ist mein Wünschzettel im Thema "was ich gern hätte" ;-)

I've been also collecting transit tickets for years, and recently started to look out for transit tokens (coins used as tickets on trams/trolleys/streetcars), too. This hobby is quite new for me, so the collection is not very big yet - kind contributions of this kind are therefore highly appreciated!

Disclaimer

Before we start, a short disclaimer. I know it's not the best way to start a website with something like this, but I be glad if you read it.

1. This is a free-time effort, so I cannot promise that it's going to be updated until the end of time - or even regularily. If you're planing to see the real thing, check everything for yourself, because what's here might not be current anymore!

2. Some of the things written here are how I see things, i.e. my personal opinion. I cannot be held responsible for mistakes, misinterpretations, inaccuracies, inactualities, etc. Nor for the content of the pages linked in.

3. I don't work for any of our urban transportation operators or travel agencies, so this is not some kind of official travel book, and I don't get payed for praising this or damning that.

4. This is a free service for the fun of it. Please don't bother to point out that my English is not perfect or that I'm not the greatest photographer who has ever walked the Earth. I haven't learnt to speak or write English in a school, and I never learned how to take photos. It's not a nice feeling when - after putting weeks and months of hard work into a page - you get pejorative feedback, or when you're right away laughed at for your unprofessionality. I've had that, and I've had more than enough negative impulses. Help, suggestions, positive criticism are of course always welcome! Feel free to enjoy what you see here, but please respect my right not to be perfect. Thank you!

5. Please read on, I promise all the next chapters will be much more enjoyable than this disclaimer ;-)

6. There is NO... rule six!

Index

History and trivia
    A bit of Budapest history
    A bit of geography
    History of Budapest public transportation - in a nutshell
    A few numbers

Things to know...
    Rules of thumb - without warranty
    BKV route designations
    A few words in hungarian that can help you getting around
    And a few notes for photographers

Introduction to the rolling stock
    Numbering scheme
    Vehicles

A clickable imagemap of the lines and some of the important "tram places"

Descriptions sorted by routes and/or places:
    The Grand Boulevard (route 4 and 6)
    Moszkva tér
    Route 2
    Route 1/1A
    Route 12 and 14
    Route 17
    Route 24
    Route 42
    Route 59
    Route 61
       The Hűvösvölgy branch (currently route 61)
    Route 18
       The Krisztinaváros trunk
       Fehérvári út
       The Savoya Park branch - tram 18 only
       The Kamaraerdő branch -  tram 41 only
       The Budafok branch - tram 47 only
    Route 19 and 41
       The Buda embankment branch
       The inner section of Bartók Béla út
    Móricz Zsigmond körtér
       The outer section of Bartók Béla út
    Route 3 (and parts of 62/62A)
    Route 69 (and parts of 62/62A)
    Route 50
    Route 28, 37 and 62
    Route 21/21A
    The Pesterzsébet giant loop (tram 21 and 52)
    (to be continued...)

Non-tram things
    HÉV
    Rack railway
    Children's Railway
    Trolley buses
    The Castle District Funicular
    Miscellanous

If you like this site, I would be thankful if you made a link to it with the web banner below:

by inserting this HTML code into your webpage:
<a href="http://hampage.hu/trams/thg2bp/" target="_blank"><img SRC="http://hampage.hu/kepek/banner/thg2bp-banner03.gif" ALT="The unofficial guide to Budapest trams" NOSAVE  BORDER=1 height=60 width=468></a>
Thank you very much!

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Disclaimer: The author cannot be held responsible for mistakes, misinterpretations, inaccuracies, inactualities, etc. on/of these pages, nor for the content of other pages linked in.