Children's Railway. Budapest

[neilmc]

Anybody ever used this? I don't see many tourists on the trains when I've been. It's a great meander around the hillsides of Buda, last time I had my ticket "gripped" by a pair of schoolgirls in short socks, although being Hungary it's still really cheap for a novelty railway. A bonus is that you can get the cogwheel railway service 60 to the start, drop off at Janoshegy for some scenic pictures in the middle and come back on the tram from Huvosvolgy. The children don't actually drive the trains, of course; in the Communist days it was a treat for well-behaved children to be able to work on the railway and it still operates the same today.

 

[StephenHunter]

Planning to do that next year on a visit.

 

[43096]

Anybody ever used this? I don't see many tourists on the trains when I've been. It's a great meander around the hillsides of Buda, last time I had my ticket "gripped" by a pair of schoolgirls in short socks, although being Hungary it's still really cheap for a novelty railway. A bonus is that you can get the cogwheel railway service 60 to the start, drop off at Janoshegy for some scenic pictures in the middle and come back on the tram from Huvosvolgy. The children don't actually drive the trains, of course; in the Communist days it was a treat for well-behaved children to be able to work on the railway and it still operates the same today.

Yes - I have travelled on it. It's a really enjoyable trip and thoroughly recommended for anyone staying in the area.

 

[zero]

Yes, I've travelled on this and I did the route mentioned in the OP.

They should perhaps give the kids some English lessons relating to railway matters as part of their introductory training, as there was a lot of trouble with communication. The other tourists seemed to be mostly German.

I confused the 7 year old who came to sell me a ticket and ended up paying 100 forint more than I should have. Unfortunately Hungarian is too different from other languages for me to try learning anything in the 5 days I had free before my trip, so it was impossible to explain where her maths had gone wrong.

 

[Beebman]

Back in May I also did the route mentioned in the OP, however I did it in reverse and I had to use a cogwheel replacement bus service as it was shut due to maintenance. The youngster who sold me a ticket was confused that I asked for just a single ticket instead of a return so I agree that some basic English lessons would help. The scenery on the highest part of line is quite stunning although trees often block the view. Some of the gradients are quite steep so you do get some thrash from the loco. On the trip I made there was a group of Dutch tourists in the same coach and an extra vehicle was added for a party of Hungarian schoolkids.

 

[OldandRambling]

I have enjoyed the Budapest children's railway also. I went by tram to the lower station and the childrens train up the mountain, and got off at the top. February 2013, with snow on the ground. Lucky to see a steam engine. Also a happy couple enjoying a warming brandy snifter or two!
I think the original purpose of the line was to train children for work in the railway industry when they became adults?

 

[dutchflyer]

Yes, long time ago-when hammer and sickle in the red still reigned, one had to get a visum (with obligatory exchange of ´hard´ valuta-preferably DEM) and it was just like now. Is as such mentioned in about any serious travelguide. Have since been back to HU+Bp numerous times-not the least to explore its generous offer of free transport for 65+ (BUT from the EU only!), though this does not apply to this line.
Such small lines, touristy, as a kind of young-scout trainee camp for future railwayworkers were a feature of many countries at that time forcefully ´befriended´ with the big CCCP.

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

Yes, I first went on it in Jan 1990. It's the best of the Children's Railways in the former Eastern Block countries, although not all that many survive. I believe the train drivers always were adults, regular MAV staff, but the other roles were children. Railways of course played a massive role in transport in the Eastern Block, particularly for freight, so these were in part training operations as all of the railways had huge staff complements. Definitely worth a visit if you are in Budapest. Hungarian is a language with very different roots to most other European languages, so is almost literally incomprehensible without some preparation. Back then, a smattering of Russian helped with communication but probably not such a good idea now... If you do visit Hungary worth learning 10 words of Hungarian, (eg. hello/goodbye,a few numbers, please, thank you, coffee, beer) although in most tourist areas English is very widely spoken. In my experience, most hungarians will beam with delight if you do try and communicate a little in their language!

 

[martinr1]

Well worth a visit and quite good fun

 

[306024]

Yes, I've travelled on this and I did the route mentioned in the OP.

They should perhaps give the kids some English lessons relating to railway matters as part of their introductory training, as there was a lot of trouble with communication. The other tourists seemed to be mostly German.

I confused the 7 year old who came to sell me a ticket and ended up paying 100 forint more than I should have. Unfortunately Hungarian is too different from other languages for me to try learning anything in the 5 days I had free before my trip, so it was impossible to explain where her maths had gone wrong.

Been a couple of times and it’s well worth experiencing.

Perhaps it’s a bit unrealistic to expect a 7 year old Hungarian to understand English, German or any other language they may be confronted with. It must be quite daunting to work there, especially if it your first shift! Just prepare your smart phone with Google translate just in case.

 

[Taunton]

A feature of socialist-era Eastern European cities. St Petersburg had two. Somewhat comparable to cadet corps in some UK schools, you dressed up in uniforms and did a range of tasks, although the driving and other key aspects were done by regular instructors. It was indeed associated with good behaviour and marks at school, and surely beat what the rest were "found something to do" in socialist-era school summer holidays, such as slave labour - I mean being sent to farms to bring in the beetroot harvest ...

Sometimes known as Pioneer Railways, as the Pioneers were a socialist youth institution, analogous to the Boy Scouts/Girl Guides, membership compulsory (of course). Every Eastern European Metro has, or had, a station named Pionerskaya, to commemorate them, regardless of the district it might be in. There was an equivalent, more mature group, the Komsomols, for late teenagers, which had more of a political outlook.

I think the narrow gauge rolling stock was specially manufactured for the Pioneer railways. Here are some shots of one of the St Petersburg ones:

The (Northern) St.Petersburg Children’s Railway

 

[Cheshire Scot]

I enjoyed my vist to Budapest in 1984.

Also on that trip I did some illegal photography from my hotel window overlooking Deli station.

 

[StephenHunter]

I had a go at Hungarian on Duolingo; very hard to learn.

How much is contactless used?

 

[Beebman]

I've attached some photos from my trip earlier this year - the first photo shows the extra coach being added for the school party and third gives an idea of the sort of views which are possible from the train.

How much is contactless used?

All tickets in Budapest are paper ones but they can be bought from machines using contactless credit cards. For the children's railway you have to buy from the staffed ticket offices. I used cash but I don't know for sure if cards are accepted.

 

[Taunton]

For the children's railway you have to buy from the staffed ticket offices. I used cash but I don't know for sure if cards are accepted.

I presume they are not very expensive

 

[Beebman]

I presume they are not very expensive

Ticket prices are listed here (in English):

https://gyermekvasut.hu/en/prices/

The basic adult fares are 1000 HUF single or 1800 HUF return - that equates to roughly £2.10 and £3.80 at current exchange rates. (and the page confirms that payment is cash only.)

 

[Taunton]

I think the St Petersburg one was the same as the Metro fare. But no automation, because the whole idea was to give the youngsters experience with money handling, ticket issue, and balancing it all up afterwards. The actual revenue was of course irrelevant.

 

[zero]

Perhaps it’s a bit unrealistic to expect a 7 year old Hungarian to understand English, German or any other language they may be confronted with. It must be quite daunting to work there, especially if it your first shift! Just prepare your smart phone with Google translate just in case.

I agree, I was just trying to say that if it had been somewhere like Portugal or Bulgaria I would have been able to have a go at talking, but Hungarian is as foreign to me as, say, Zulu (i.e. they're written in Latin so I have a vague idea of what most letters are meant to sound like).

When I went, the tickets were sold on the train and it was cash only, the ticket office was closed with no staff and everyone was not sure the train would even come until it did. This was in the height of summer.

 

[Taunton]

the ticket office was closed with no staff and everyone was not sure the train would even come until it did. This was in the height of summer.

Socialist era traditions die hard

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Socialist era traditions die hard

Read somewhere that in the DDR , groups of Pioneers were assigned to stations in very cold weather to help the staff to de-ice platforms and more worryingly frozen points.

Cannot image say the xxx Scout Troop in say Orpington dong the same job on the British network.

 

[Taunton]

Read somewhere that in the DDR , groups of Pioneers were assigned to stations in very cold weather to help the staff to de-ice platforms and more worryingly frozen points.

A Pioneer participant of the time has just told me that still might have been preferable to the beetroot harvest (see above) MONTH ...

 

[StephenHunter]

Read somewhere that in the DDR , groups of Pioneers were assigned to stations in very cold weather to help the staff to de-ice platforms and more worryingly frozen points.

Cannot image say the xxx Scout Troop in say Orpington dong the same job on the British network.

Might have done in 1962.

 

[D6130]

I have visited the Buda Pioneers' Railway twice....in 1983 and 2010 and very much enjoyed both trips. The night before my June 2010 visit there had been a huge thunderstorm with torrential rain the previous night and my train ran extremely cautiously with two men with chainsaws on board. We had to stop twice on the outward journey to remove fallen trees which were obstructing the line. IIRC, the narrow gauge diesel locos used on the line were built in Romania.

 

[Llanigraham]

Did the trip a couple of years ago and agree with others it is an excellent trip.
However I will warn you that when we went up there was no-where to have lunch at the top but we did notice a cafe at one of the stations on the way up, so on our return journey hopped off to get lunch and a beer. Caught a later train down, expecting our return tickets to still be applicable, only to find they weren't and we had to buy another ticket.
Like the railway the cafe staff didn't understand English either but they did an excellent goulash and beer seems to be understood around the world.
Unfortunately the cog line wasn't open when we did it.

 

[blackfive460]

However I will warn you that when we went up there was no-where to have lunch

When I was there a few years ago there was a café at the Hűvösvölgy terminus though I wouldn't really recommend it.
Another option, if you leave the train at János-hegy to walk to the Elizabeth tower for the view over the city, there was a café there but I can't say if it was any good as it was closed when I was there. The view was worth the walk though.

 

[Segedunum]

When I visited in 2018, an older bloke sold me a ticket who spoke excellent English. I think he noticed I'd stumped the poor kids in the office and came running over

 

[AdamWW]

I went on it a few years ago and enjoyed myself.

I also had trouble getting the ticket I wanted (from the ticket office at the bottom end) but I think it just meant I paid a little more than I should have.

It was quite impressive seeing how seriously the children were taking it - I couldn't quite imagine anything like it happening in the UK.

The rack railway was an interesting experience too - I've been on very few standard gauge rack railways.

 

[John-H]

When I was there in 2015, I bought my ticket at the office. The kid there seemed pretty uncertain, but the old guy behind him kept nodding in encouragement.

A guy and a girl on the train checked my ticket, and they also sold cash fares and souvenirs.

 

[AdamWW]

When I was there in 2015, I bought my ticket at the office. The kid there seemed pretty uncertain, but the old guy behind him kept nodding in encouragement.

A guy and a girl on the train checked my ticket, and they also sold cash fares and souvenirs.

I should say that in my very limited experience of buying train tickets in Hungary in general I've found it really quite hard to get the right ticket.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Oct 2022 ==

Here's some of my photos:







If I remember correctly, the coach in the green and cream livery was one that could hire for a party or whatever occasion you fancied.