Milestones:Budapest Metroline No.1., 1896
Title
Budapest Metroline No.1., 1896
Citation
In 1896, Budapest Metro Line No. 1 was inaugurated, the first underground railway designed specifically to use electric power, rather than adapted from steam-powered systems. It offered several innovative elements, including bidirectional motor carriages, the “goose neck chassis,” and electric lighting in the stations and carriages. This line's design influenced later subway construction in Boston, Paris, Berlin, and other metropolitan areas worldwide.
Street address(es) and GPS coordinates of the Milestone Plaque Sites
47.4980619,19.0523123 Deák Ferenc square, Underground Railway Museum, Budapest,1052 HUNGARY, 47.4980619,19.0523123 Deák Ferenc square, Underground Railway Museum, Budapest,1052 HUNGARY
Details of the physical location of the plaque
In the center of Budapest a busy underpass makes possible to (1) cross the street (2) to reach stations of metro No.1. and No.2. and (3) to enter to the Budapest Underground Museum.Thera are many stairsways from different directions to reach this level.The Museum has an entrance Hall (cca. 100 sqm) with guard and continuous surveillance. The Museum space is a 60 m long and 6 m wide underground station with illumination, with carriages, with relicts.
How the plaque site is protected/secured
The plaque will be mounted close to the oringinal plaque about the inauguration of the Metro in 1896.This site is double guarded, at the entrance of the museum. The museum visitors can see it.
Historical significance of the work
I. Summary
The Budapest Metro Line No.1, the first continental underground electric tramline, was constructed for the celebrations of the thousand year anniversary of the Hungarian statehood and Millennia World Fair in 1896. The cut-and-cover tunnel method was used with a flat roof with steel beacons support, instead of a brick arch resulting in a low tunnel height. The carriages were characterized by low floor height do to the “goose neck” chassis. The technics served as a reference, muster and standard during the construction of Boston, Paris and Berlin metro. The project included several innovations of electrical engineering, partly pioneered by Siemens like the traction system. Novelties were the bidirectional motor carriage with two driver’s cabins, where the boogie included the motor and the overlapping rail jointing for smooth gliding. It was the first application of underground trolley system. The Budapest Metro line No. 1 has been in operation since its inauguration, for more than 120 years. The Underground Railway Museum (URM) with three original wagons has been open to the public in a non-used tunnel part since 1975. The Budapest metro line No.1. became part of the World heritage in 2002, together with the avenue above it called “Andrássy street”.
II. The contribution of the Budapest metro to technological innovation
The first Budapest underground line combined the previous worldwide good practices, as electric traction motors, electric railway security signalization, electric lighting in the stations and the carriages. At the same time it abandoned the clutch-and-cable system, the gas fired lightings. Several new ideas were put into practice, such as the trolley current collector instead of the third rail system, the cut-and-cover construction instead of deep-level tunnel drilling and instead of independent locomotives the electric traction motors are built in the carriage’s bogies. The construction became a muster for the New York, Boston, Paris, Berlin and Buenos Aires metros.
III. Historic background of building the Budapest Metro line No.1.
In the second half of the 19th century Budapest became a metropolis. In 1873 it had more than 300.000 inhabitants, this number doubled in the next two decades. Huge infrastructural investments formed the city into the present tourist-luring townscape. In 1875 a new representative avenue was built between the center and the city park. For esthetic reasons no horse-pulled or electric tram line construction was allowed in this street. In 1896 the country celebrated the thousand year anniversary of the Hungarian statehood, and the city park was selected as the celebrations’ venue. The decision makers were pressed to seek for appropriate mass transport solutions and the mayor’s office wanted to raise the glare of the feast with an up-to-date technical solution.
The monopolistic horse pulled tramway company Budapesti Közúti Vaspálya Társaság (BKVT) had operated with 700 horses since 1860 but was not open for any innovations. In 1887 a 1000 m track was been built by Siemens
Features that set this work apart from similar achievements
The Budapest metro is the first commercial electrified underground train in the European continent. It has been in continuous operation since 1896. This achievement was a complex innovative solution of several engineering branches because
- it was first in the cut-and-cover tunnel technics – under a main road - instead of deep-level tunnel
- there wasn't independent locomotive
- it had bidirectional motor carriages with two driver’s cabins
- the bogie included the electric motor
- it was the first city in the world to use the underground trolley system
- it had the first underground current collector trolley instead of fourth current rail
- electric lighting was applied in the carriages and stations, too
- it was of low floor height (“goose neck” chassis)
- it was the first application of Siemens traction system in underground metro
- of the low tunnel height, this structure gauge became standard for long time
- of the solution of overlapping rail jointing for smooth gliding
- the security was supported by electrical signalization
- it served as a reference and standard for Boston, Paris, Berlin and Buenos Aires metro
The successful realization took only 21 months. The memories of early underground transportation have been carefully preserved for the future. The Underground has a well-shaped museum – close to the operating system. The project was performed by international cooperation.
Significant references
PRIMARY REFERENCES ––––––––
Conference paper –
Peter Kadar: Metro line No.1. in Budapest
IEEE HISTELCON 2015, 18-19 August, 2015 Tel Aviv, Israel pp. 1-6.
Media:BudapestMetroNo1_Histelcon2015_milestone_ref.pdf
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Conference paper –
Peter Kadar: The Drive and the Electrical Appliances in the Budapest Metro 120 Years ago
IEEE HISTELCON 2017, 7-8 August, 2017 Kobe, Japan pp. 1-6.
Media:_ElApplMetroNo1No1_Histelcon2017_milestone_ref.pdf
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Siemens History Archive –
Sabine Dittler: The first electrically powered underground on the European continent goes into operation in Budapest
https://www.siemens.com/history/en/news/1193_underground_budapest.htm
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INTERNET LINKS
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Metro Line M1 (Budapest Metro) in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Line_M1_(Budapest_Metro)
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An article –
Short history of Millenium metro
http://www.metro4.hu/en/metros-in-budapest/millenium-underground
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An architectural viewpoint –
Budapest Metro – Millennium Underground
https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/building/budapest-metro-millennium-underground/
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City Guide – 5 minute article –
Petra Berende: Retro railways: Ride the continent’s oldest metro in Budapest
[https://welovebudapest.com/en/2015/08/17/retro-railways-ride-the-continents-oldest-metro-in-budapest/ https://welovebudapest.com/en/2015/08/17/retro-railways-ride-the-continents-oldest-metro-in-budapest/]
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1 minute travel guide chapter –
Millennium Underground
http://visitbudapest.travel/guide/budapest-attractions/millennium-underground/
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Photo series –
Brian Cohen: The Historic Line 1 Subway in Budapest: A Photographic Chronology
http://thegate.boardingarea.com/the-historic-line-1-subway-in-budapest-a-photographic-chronology/
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Line description with station photos –
Line M1
http://www.urbanrail.net/eu/hu/budapest/budapest-line1.htm
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YOUTUBE VIDEOS
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Millenium Subway Budapest 4 min 56 sec
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The Millenium Underground is 100 years old 15 min 14 sec
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Budapest Millenium Subway Carriage No. 11 in operation, 2011.05.08. 4 min 53 sec
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The Budapest Millenium Subway (1974) 14 min 38 sec
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The story of the Millenium Subway Budapest 19 min 36 sec – in Hungarian
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BOOKS IN ENGLISH
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AGE OF ELECTRICITY Pioneering Achievements in Electrical Engineering pp 9-12
Franz-Josef-Elektrische Untergrundbahn Budapest H
Media:20140317_extract_age_of_electricity.pdf
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Peripheral Flows – A Historical Perspective on Mobilities between Cores and Fringes Edited by Simone Fari and Massimo Moraglio.; Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018 ISBN: 978-1-4438-9048-9 p 143-150
Media:Peripheral_Flows_-_BudMetro_Extract.pdf
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A Century of Subways: Celebrating 100 Years of New York's Underground Railways 1st Edition by Brian J. Cudahy 2009 ISBN-13: 978-0823222933
Media:Century_of_Subways_-_Extract.pdf
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Street and Electric Railways, 1902: Special Reports - United States. Census Office Edward Dana Durand, Thomas Commerford Martin p156
„Budapest was the first city in the world to use the underground trolley system”
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The National Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly, Vol.11. Bostonian Publishing Company, 1900 p. 660 https://books.google.hu/books?id=bnceAQAAMAAJ
„The electric subway at Budapest is the original one after which the Boston subway was modeled. The commissioners visited Budapest previous to completing plans for the Boston subway, and took many of their best ideas from the Hungarian system. The Budapest subway is longer than that at Boston but the latter is higher and broader, and much better lighted. The same system of checks is used, and aside from a difference in the building and arrangement of their cars, the Budapest and Boston subways are quite similar… … commissioners visited Budapest previous to completing plans for the Boston subway, and took many of their ideas...”
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BOOK IS HUNGARIAN
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Dr. Kubinszky Mihály - Lovász István - Villányi György: Old Hungarian trams; Budapesti Városvédő Egylet, Bp., 1978, ISBN: 9789637537112
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Legát Tibor - Dr. Zsigmond Gábor: A villamos aranykora 1887 – 1923 (The golden age of the tram 1887-1923); Jószöveg Műhely; Budapest, 2012
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Medveczky Ágnes: A milleneumi Földalatti Vasút (The Budapest Underground Train) ; Közlekedési Dokumentációs Vállalat, Budapest, 1975
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A Millenniumi Földalatti vasút rövid története (Short history of the Budapest Underground) Villanyszerelők lapja, 2009 október
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Németh János: History of Royal carriage No. 20. Budapest in 1965, manuscript
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WEB SOURCES ABOUT THE FOLLOWER METRO LINES
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Subway - The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica - https://www.britannica.com/technology/subway „Many other cities followed London’s lead. In Budapest a 2.5-mile (4-kilometre) electric subway was opened in 1896, using single cars with trolley poles; it was the first subway on the European continent. Considerable savings were achieved in its construction over earlier cut-and-cover methods by using a flat roof with steel beams instead of a brick arch, and therefore, a shallower trench.”
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MBTA Green Line Historic Images - Celebrate Boston www.celebrateboston.com/mbta/green-line/tremont-street-subway.htm „Boston built the first subway in North America. Trolley car grid-lock and street congestion on main thoroughfares motivated the Massachusetts Legislature to authorize the construction of the subway. It opened on September 1, 1897. …….. The "cut and cover" method of construction was used, with a deep trench dug or "cut" on Tremont Street, and a steel structure built around it and then filled in or "covered up." The Budapest Subway, and the later Paris Metro, were visited by the Boston subway designers.”
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Nation's First Subway Opens in Boston https://www.massmoments.org/moment-details/nations-first-subway-opens-in-boston.html
„After considering various alternatives to ease congestion on Boston's streets, city officials decided to follow the example of London, Glasgow, and Budapest and build an underground system.”
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Tremont Street subway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tremont_Street_subway „The Tremont Street subway in Boston's MBTA Subway system is the oldest subway tunnel in North America and the third oldest still in use worldwide to exclusively use electric traction (after the City and South London Railway in 1890, and the Budapest Metro's Line 1 in 1896), opening on September 1, 1897.”
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Underground Pioneers Clifton Hood https://www.city-journal.org/html/underground-pioneers-12552.html „Between 1895 and 1900, as New York’s courts dickered over the RTC’s budget and route, Glasgow, Budapest, and Boston unveiled new underground railways and Paris started to build its first metro.”
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WEB SOURCES IN HUNGARIAN
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Szeberényi Márton: A Millenniumi Földalatti Vasút vonala és annak története (The story of the first Budapest metro); http://digitus.itk.ppke.hu/~szema/FJFVV_von.html as it on 30/06/2015
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The Milleneum Subway Line of Budapest by Varga Ákos Endre; http://hampage.hu/kozlekedes/fav4/e_index.html as it on 30/06/2015
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P. Istvánfi: A FAV régi kocsijai (The old carriages of the Budapest Undergrounnd; www.villamosok.hu/metro/jarmu/favold/favold.html
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Supporting materials
Photos
Fig.1. Plan of the cross section - History of Budapest, Academy publ. 1978
Fig.2. Historic metal covered carriage No.1. in the Underground Railway Museum - Photo Peter Kadar
Fig.3. The Opera station - Photo Peter Kadar
Fig.4. Wood covered carriage No.11. in nostalgia operation on 2nd of May 2016 - Photo Gabor Lovas
Fig.5. Historic wood covered carriage No.19. in the Underground Railway Museum - Photo Peter Kadar __________________________________________________________________________
Attached files
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Conference paper –
Peter Kadar: Metro line No.1. in Budapest
IEEE HISTELCON 2015, 18-19 August, 2015 Tel Aviv, Israel pp. 1-6.
Media:BudapestMetroNo1_Histelcon2015_milestone_ref.pdf
––––––––
Conference paper –
Peter Kadar: The Drive and the Electrical Appliances in the Budapest Metro 120 Years ago
IEEE HISTELCON 2017, 7-8 August, 2017 Kobe, Japan pp. 1-6.
Media:_ElApplMetroNo1No1_Histelcon2017_milestone_ref.pdf
––––––––
AGE OF ELECTRICITY Pioneering Achievements in Electrical Engineering pp 9-12
Franz-Josef-Elektrische Untergrundbahn Budapest H
Media:20140317_extract_age_of_electricity.pdf
––––––––
Peripheral Flows – A Historical Perspective on Mobilities between Cores and Fringes Edited by Simone Fari and Massimo Moraglio.; Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018 ISBN: 978-1-4438-9048-9 p 143-150
Media:Peripheral_Flows_-_BudMetro_Extract.pdf
––––––––
A Century of Subways: Celebrating 100 Years of New York's Underground Railways 1st Edition by Brian J. Cudahy 2009 ISBN-13: 978-0823222933
Media:Century_of_Subways_-_Extract.pdf
