Budapest - Underground Museum & Metro line 1

[TT-Pete]

A grey and cold Budapest January Saturday afternoon, Madame has eagerly scuttled off down Fashion Street for a spot of retail therapy, so what is a chap to do? I know! The adjacent Underground Museum located in the Metro station underneath Deak Ferenc square.

 

 

Opened by the then Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Josef in 1896 it was the first European mainland underground railway having been beaten by the London Underground and Mersey Railways, but unlike them it was electric from the outset, with the original cars surviving in service until 1973.

 

 

The cars have a slightly odd squished look - built using the cut and cover method along the main thoroughfare the tunnel depth was limited by the city main collector sewer running beneath it so that tunnel clearance is only 2.5 metres, which isn't very much and the driver was squeezed into the driving compartment.

 

 

Originally Known as the "Millenium line" as 1896 was the 1,000th anniversary of the arrival of the Magyars in what would become Hungary, it must have felt like it would be another 1,000 years until the next new Metro line would arrive as plans for Line 2 were first drawn up in 1942 with the actual opening not happening until 1970. Line 2 and the other new lines are of a more conventional deep-level tube construction so with its' squat little cars Line 1 is now also known as "the little underground".

 

 

With the arrival of Lines 2 and 3 in the 1970s the Deak Ferenc square station became an interchange with the Line 1 station being relocated and part of the old platform structure being retained to form the Museum that you see today.

 

 

 

 

I really liked it, it's not a huge collection but very well maintained, the artifacts are very well displayed, the explanation text panels are also in English and it's all for an entrance fee of just under £2.

 

With Madame still being engrossed in her bargain hunting I decided to buy tickets for a trip to the end of the line and back, again for a capital outlay just shy of 2 quid. (Transport for London take note!)

 

 

The proportions of standard gauge track with reduced clearance stock look a little odd to my eye and with the 1970's station architecture puts me in mind of a sci-fi film vibe - ala Logan's Run :^)

 

 

 

 

I'm not sure that I would want to experience these in full rush-hour with every seat and strap hanger at capacity though.

 

 

On arrival at Mexikoi Ut the train crosses over to the Up line for the return journey with the Down line continuing up a ramp to the depot at street level.

 

 

I went up to have a look around but couldn't find a vantage point to get an interesting view of the depot and the surrounding area is a bit run down, so I headed back down for the return trip.

 

As Deak Ferenc and Mexikoi Ut are not original stations it's interesting to contrast them with the original 1896 station architecture, spotlessly clean, all well-preserved and free of the advertising and signage that clutters and litters LU stations.

 

 

I particularly like the decorative tiled station names

 

 

 

So I can particularly recommend a trip on the Eastern European version of Glasgow's clockwork orange.

 

BEWARE OF TICKET INSPECTORS! My guide book said that while there are no ticket barriers anywhere on the public transport system there are often spot checks and to make sure that you validate your ticket in one of the punch machines on boarding. I can wholeheartedly endorse this, for a total of 3 metro and 1 tram journey I was stopped twice by a revenue protection check. A single journey costs about 85p so why would you not?!

 

@britishcolumbian

 

 

Edited February 2, 2023 by TT-Pete
Photos won't stay put

[jonhall]

The urban transport museum on the other side of the river at Szentendre is also worth a look if you are in that area.

 

Jon

[TT-Pete]

Thanks, added to the list. We will definitely be going back, at a time of year that is a.) warmer and b.) when the National Railway Museum is open. :^)

[micklner]

Lovely city. The hills oppositte the Houses of Parliament still bear some of the scars of WW2.

 

I agree re Underground clean and very cheap. The information displays on the Trains we used even has English written on the displays.

 

Worth visting is the Musuem used by the Nazis and KGB post war as a prison in one of the main roads . A  Very sad haunting place.

[britishcolumbian]

It boggles my mind that I've never taken the time to look at the Underground museum... actually I didn't even know about it until fairly recently. But I'll have to go check it out next time I'm Home. The Földalatti itself has a kinda museum value as the second oldest underground system in the world, and as your photos show, the stations are well kept in their original state. I just hope they decide to keep at least one of the stations on Line 3 with the original 1970s architecture...

 

Re tickets: "May I have your ticket, please?" "Quit begging and go get a job!"

I remember dodging ticket inspectors being something of a sport in my 20s... and most people despise them and love seeing them humiliated. Being multilingual was always a help... Best scene was once they asked this woman in her mid 50s for her ticket, she just snapped, "ask the government for a ticket, I don't have money for crap like this"... the entire bus erupted in laughter. My favourite of my own: ticket checker was in his 40s, I was 22. He asks me for my ticket, using the informal 'you' ('te'). I asked him how he dares presume to use the informal form with me when we are not friends - and this elderly gentleman passing by chimed in to say that I'm absolutely right.

 

Along Metro 2 and Metro 3 lines they've been renovating the stations... I miss the old Soviet escalators - they went at 100 mph so you had to be careful getting off, the new ones are so slow.

 

Thanks for sharing these photos!

 

[Jeff Smith]

I visited Budapest about 5 years ago and rode on Line 1.  At the time using Soviet era stock (maybe still).

 

65 and over travel free on public transport.  Didn't know about the museum but riding the surface tram along the river is fun and a visit to the market at the southern end of the shopping mall is a must.

[Jeff Smith]

31 minutes ago, britishcolumbian said:

My favourite of my own: ticket checker was in his 40s, I was 22. He asks me for my ticket, using the informal 'you' ('te'). I asked him how he dares presume to use the informal form with me when we are not friends - and this elderly gentleman passing by chimed in to say that I'm absolutely right.

Is this like German where the informal is used for friends, close family and children?

[burgundy]

6 hours ago, TT-Pete said:

Thanks, added to the list. We will definitely be going back, at a time of year that is a.) warmer and b.) when the National Railway Museum is open. :^)

The Railway Museum is very well worth a visit, even if it does require you to fund further retail therapy for Mrs TT P.

Best wishes 

Eric  

[britishcolumbian]

1 hour ago, Jeff Smith said:

Is this like German where the informal is used for friends, close family and children?

Yes but more so, because we have informal, formal, and very formal. Informal is for friends, family, children, as well as for people your own age or younger than you - *unless* you are in a position of authority, business transaction, etc - then you have to use the formal even when addressing someone younger... *buuut* sometimes the middle formal is used in the early days of a romantic relationship when you're first starting to see someone, although that's kinda obsolete nowadays. It's kinda complicated to explain easily but essentially, in the social relationship that we were in (I, a member of the public, he, a uniformed official on duty) - dictated that regardless of our ages, the formal form is to be used. He broke that social rule, so I was completely within my rights to be offended, as the elderly passerby pointed out to the ticket checker...

 

... which all had the happy side effect of me avoiding a fine for not having validated my ticket (if you're gonna dodge, always carry an unvalidated ticket around just in case...)

 

Edit to add: basically if in any doubt at all, use the middle formal until told otherwise.

Edited February 2, 2023 by britishcolumbian

[TT-Pete]

2 hours ago, burgundy said:

The Railway Museum is very well worth a visit, even if it does require you to fund further retail therapy for Mrs TT P.

 

Fortunately Madame is self-funding in this regard as well as being a laser-focussed bargain hunter, is there's one to be had she'll sniff it out and If it's less than 70% off then she's not interested. :^)

 

8 hours ago, jonhall said:

The urban transport museum on the other side of the river at Szentendre is also worth a look if you are in that area.

 

Thanks, the list of things to see on the next trip grows ever longer, I saw this advert in the Metro, perhaps a Hungarian speaker could translate it for me please?

 

 

 

 

[Nearholmer]

That initial design underground car is a real gem - so very few early metro cars survive. It’s a system I’ve always rather fancied visiting. Maybe one day.

[britishcolumbian]

10 hours ago, TT-Pete said:

 

Fortunately Madame is self-funding in this regard as well as being a laser-focussed bargain hunter, is there's one to be had she'll sniff it out and If it's less than 70% off then she's not interested. :^)

 

 

Thanks, the list of things to see on the next trip grows ever longer, I saw this advert in the Metro, perhaps a Hungarian speaker could translate it for me please?

 

 

 

 

"Relax at our [place]! Interactive time spent in the company of purring kitties, with a gallery of paintings and a gift shop."

[45655]

An interesting system of current collection, given the very low height of the tunnels.

 

The museum displays appear to show two overhead traction current rails and initially I wondered whether this might be an early application of the Ganz 3-phase AC system, as later proposed for the Portmadoc, Beddgelert & South Snowdon Railway.  Apparently not, as the electrical installation was by Siemens & Halske and was originally 350v DC using trolley pickup.  

 

Presumably a balanced supply was used to avoid electrolytic corrosion of gas pipes etc due to current leakage, as on the London Underground.  However I gather that this was later altered to a single current rail and running rail return (with the voltage increased to 550v).

 

Keith

Alton.

[Nick C]

Mrs C and I had a very brief visit to Budapest a few years ago - must go back for a proper trip, and see both of these!