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Budapest
tram snapshots, Summer of 2005
[Click here for the german
version]
[Click here for the hungarian version]
I took several thousand tram pictures this summer, but don't worry, I'll only show you a few of them here :) Some of these you might have already seen on mailing lists, some of them will be new. Hope you like them!
A wet and somewhat cold June night at Batthyány tér, with route 49 detoured here because of construction works at Astoria.
The "exact opposite" of the previous picture: bright sunshine on a nice morning, seen in Török Flóris utca. This is...
... the start of the "giant loop" that runs through this part of the city, known as Pesterzsébet. The loop has a few different faces, like green areas next to a communist-type housing estate...
... old houses remembering better days...
... and village-like streets. On the picture: the tight curve from Nagysándor József utca to Vörösmarty utca.
The outer part of the loop was jointly used by route 52...
... and 30 until the 4th of July, when the latter service was cut back.
To commemorate this sad event, enthusiastic workers of the BKV provided a "last service" on the last day of the "long" route 30 with a UV double-set.
The end looking "forward into the loop" was even decorated with flowers - too bad that this decoration looked like rusty cracks in the dark!
The corner of Nagysándor József utca and Vörösmarty utca, again.
A bit deeper into the loop.
The two-track terminal at Pacsirtatelep...
... which will only be used by route 52 afterwards.
The first day of the "short" route 30: the tram on the picture turns to Szabótelep instead of going to Pacsirtatelep.
The same corner from the opposite direction.
More "village tram" moods: route 12 at Rákospalota. On the right-hand side you can make out remnants of the old reversing loop, which was abandoned in 1989. Since then trams terminate at a stub terminus. This is of course a desolate place now, but earlier it was also the terminus of route 10 and 55, that are both gone now.
Before the terminus, trams circle a block. They go one way this side...
... and return on the other.
The driver must look out for oncoming car traffic at the joining/parting of the two directions - you can see him leaning forward in the driver's cab!
A bit off-topic, but still nice: an old ZIU-9 trolley bus in Nagymező utca.
Ex-Hannover TW6000 Stadtbahn car on tram route 3 at Liget tér. These capable vehicles are currently "expatriated" to suburban routes (3, 50, 62 and 69).
Tram tie-up on the Grand Boulevard: coupled Ganz articulated cars queuing at Jászai Mari tér.
Route 52 was also shortened for a short period this summer, because...
... the street has yielded in Vörösmarty utca, making the tracks unusable.
UV triple-set (motor+trailer+motor) in the outer Bartók Béla út, which will be renovated in September. You can already see public services construction works in the background.
I know it's off-topic again, but I hope you'll forgive me: Ganz-Transelektro/Solaris T12 trolley bus running on batteries...
... beacuse of road contruction works in Bethlen Gábor utca making the overhead wire hard to reach.
Badly neglected on these pages: the Castle Hill funicular. Not necessarily off-topic, because I've heard rumours, that these vehicles were built on the under-carriages of old suburban cars. I don't know if it's true, though.
Route 1 looks like a modern LRT line at some places, but due to stupid, out-dated regulations, the trams musn't exceed 50 km/h!
Though... the tram is still a viable aternative here, because it can rush forward while car traffic is stuck in the jam!
A "Muki" (small electric tramway loco) returning to depot Ferencváros after some BKV-internal transport.
Another Muki leaving the Grand Boulevard at Blaha Lujza tér. This one features an advertisment livery.
Tram 30A hiding behind walls of flowers at depot Ferencváros.
Taken at another depot, in a less nice environment: Tatra T5C5 triple-set at the gates of the Baross depot. By the way, this was one of the first two depots of the normal-gauge Budapest electric tramway in 1889, you can recognise some of the old buildings on the right-hand side on old photos!
Orczy tér, right next to the depot.
Note the old wooden-frame booth on the left-hand side. Too bad that it's in such a bad state!
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