Historic vehicles

2624 steel-framed, two-axle vintage tram

The tram originally carrying number “270” was produced with wooden frame and a steel-frame bodywork in Buda in 1906. Despite the fact that this vintage vehicle is the oldest one in the fleet, it has the newest look since it was refurbished to its design of the 1970s. It is interesting to know that it was transformed into a steel-framed tram in 1959 and was transferred to Amsterdam in 1984 where it operated as a privately owned vehicle. In 2004, the tram was returned back to Hungary. In 2005, on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of Budapest Tram Transport, the tram was renovated, then started carrying passengers again in November 2012 and has been providing much pleasure to heritage and transport lovers ever since.

611 wooden-framed vintage tram

The S-type wooden-framed tram was produced by the Schlick factory in 1908. Later on also the Weitzer factory of Arad (present-day Romania) and the Ganz factory participated in the manufacturing. A total of 130 S-type cars were produced for Budapest’s transport. Until the end of World War II only very little refurbishment was carried out on the tram: seats at and opposite the dividing wall were removed but mounted back later. On the basis of a decree of 1934, two-wing doors opening inward were replaced with grid doors opening downward. In the 1950s increased traffic demand necessitated the transformation of part of the fleet into twin cars and to equip several cars with more state-of-the-art engines. Tramcar “611”, escaped dismantling in 1975 and by 1987 it regained its original form. One of the most beautiful vintage trams serves several lines from time to time, delighting passengers.

1820 S-type vintage tram

This S-type tram was produced in the Schlick–Nicholson Factory in 1907 and entered passenger service with plate number 571. Twin 37-horsepower engines made maintenance simple and fast, as in the case of malfunctioning of an engine, the other one was sufficient to power the tram. Members of the S series received plate numbers 1800-1929 in 1924. Until the end of the BSzKRt era, the predecessor of the Budapest Transport Company (BKV), only minor changes were made on the motorcar: a manual signal-light was mounted, while the inwards-opening doors were replaced with collapsible “Hűvös-Tóbiás-system” doors, and the seat layout was modified. In the 1950s, it ran as twin-car 1714-1715, and then left passenger service only in the 1970s; thereafter it operated as a vintage twin-car in 1982. The tram was renovated in 2018 for the 50th anniversary of BKV with the usual livery of the BSzKRt era and it got back its plate number of 1820.

2806 K-type vintage tram

Budapest Urban Electric Railway commissioned the Schlick–Nicholson Factory of Budapest to build the K-type tram in 1911 and it received plate number 2806. Sixty K-type cars were made with white and yellow livery and they ran primarily on the Grand Boulevard from the 1930s onwards. In the course of the engine upgrading programme started by BSzKRt, the predecessor of the Budapest Transport Company (BKV), , the trams were equipped in 1931 with new and stronger, 70-horsepower engines made by the Ganz company of Hungary, which allowed them to pull two trailer-cars. In 1934–36, battery-powered rail brakes were mounted on 35 motorcars. This tram type was superseded by steel-framed and UV trams on the Grand Boulevard, but it became a regular sight in Újpest. Tram car 2806, which was withdrawn from passenger service in 1977, was among the vehicles selected for preservation by BKV’s Technical History Committee in 1975: it was stored at Újpest depot and later in the town of Szentendre. Volunteers of the Urban Public Transport History Association (VTTE) helped with the renovation of the tram in 2018 to reflect its last operational condition for BKV’s 50th anniversary.

1233 FVV “Bengáli” vintage tram

The first “Bengáli” tram was manufactured in Budapest by the main workshop of Electric Railways of the Capital (FVV) in 1961 based on their own design and concept. Production was later transferred to the Hungarian State Railways’ (MÁV) Vehicle Repair Workshop in Debrecen and the Debrecen Public Transport Company. A total of 181 trams entered passenger service during the two decades of production. This type of tram, which was built with either one or two driver’s cabins and had 3, 5, 6 or 10 doors, disappeared from Budapest in 1983; however, it has continued to operate in the cities of Debrecen, Miskolc and Szeged up until recently. The bi-directional, 10-door tram nicknamed “Bengáli” bore plate number 1233 and it was originally put into service by FVV in 1964, then it was handed over to the Debrecen Public Transport Company in 1983, where it received plate number 492. Later on, the vintage tram was relocated to Budapest where it got back its original plate number of 1233 following full restoration.

Ikarus 180 articulated bus

The Ikarus 180 was the Hungarian manufacturer’s first mass-produced articulated bus model. The vehicle’s prototype was introduced at the Budapest International Fair in 1961, although the exhibited vehicle was not yet operational in the absence of an adequate drivetrain. A total of 416 Ikarus 180 buses operated in the Hungarian capital, however, different versions were exported to Soviet, East German, Romanian, Bulgarian, Polish, Egyptian, Iraqi, Tunisian and Mongolian cities. The serial production was ended in 1974. The last Ikarus 180 buses had been in service in Budapest until January of 1980, when they “were retired”. Interestingly, the Ikarus factory's 50,000th manufactured bus was an Ikarus 180. The 40-seater bus features a separate seat for the conductor. Nowadays, the Ikarus 180 is a permanent member of the Budapest heritage transport fleet carrying passengers on a beautiful route.

Ikarus 630 Cabrio vintage bus

This is the world’s last remaining 38-seater cabrio Ikarus 630 bus. The Ikarus 630 model was manufactured between 1959 and 1971. The open-top versions were made using the chassis of the Ikarus 620 at the former Metropolitan Bus Manufacturing Plant (FAÜ) in Budapest in 1962 and 1963. The only difference between the Ikarus 620 and 630 models was the bodywork. The vehicle is driven by an 8,276 cubic centimetre, 146 horsepower (107 kW) Csepel engine. This bus was built in 1971 and served in the former German Democratic Republic. A Hungarian collector found it in the East German city of Cottbus, then during complete restoration it was turned into an open-topper, and it was at this time too that it received the former FAÜ-paintwork. The vehicle's engine and gearbox are also original. After its return to Hungary, the bus was privately owned for a long time, then finally the Budapest Transport Company (BKV Zrt.) purchased it in 2017 as a nostalgic addition to its heritage transport fleet operating in the capital.

Ikarus 260T

This trolleybus type was made in 1974 as a result of a joint development by BKV and Hungarian bus manufacturer Ikarus. The vehicle with plate number 600 is the first – and at the same time the last but one of the 200 series – featuring an Ikarus body and Soviet-made ZiU–5 trolleybus electronics. This vehicle entered passenger service in 1975 with a “Volán-yellow” livery (the typical colour of regional buses), but between 1976 and 1995, the year of its scrapping, it bore red paintwork as it ran on the trolleybus network of the Hungarian capital. After being withdrawn from service, the trolleybus was retained for historic purposes, but it was dismantled in 2006 because of its deteriorated structural condition. That is why in 2007 BKV rebuilt a vehicle using the frame of another Ikarus 260 to reflect its condition of 1974: nowadays it is stored most of the time at the BKV Urban Public Transport Museum in Szentendre, but it does make an appearance in Budapest now and then in the course of “classic rides”.

Ikarus 260

The Ikarus 260 is the factory’s most successful non-articulated (rigid) city bus of world renown that conquered several countries: most were sold to the former Soviet Union and the German Democratic Republic, but Poland, Turkey, Venezuela, Madagascar, Syria, Taiwan and even Iceland purchased some. Nowadays, they are part of transport heritage fleets at numerous locations following authentic renovation. Bus family 200 was constructed based on the 1966 blueprints by Hungarian designers and buses were manufactured in different sizes and specifications in line with customer requirements. The prototype of the Ikarus 260 series was introduced in 1971, then production lasted until 2002, during which time a total of 72,547 buses rolled off the production lines of the factories in Hungary at the Mátyásföld neighbourhood of Budapest and in the city of Székesfehérvár. The bus with license plate BPO-671 is a subtype 260.00 with an accordion door and it was in service from 1981 to 2001, then it was overhauled in 2013. With its classic appearance, the bus now reflects the typical look of bus transport in the Hungary of the 1980s and 90s.

Ikarus 415

The Ikarus Factory, encouraged by the success of Series 200, started to develop a new series of urban and suburban buses in 1970, which received the number 400. The declared goal of the factory was to create a bus type with a lower floor than in the case of the 200 series that would meet modern age requirements and would make a successful bus to be sold in great numbers. What is unique about the 400 series is that the engine was relocated from underneath the floor to the rear of the vehicle, while the body structure in the roof was strengthened. However, the 400 series never lived up to expectations, and it had not become as popular as its predecessors. Despite all of this, a few thousand buses were manufactured, which then operated in Hungary and abroad. The city of Budapest procured Ikarus 415 buses in several phases, one of which, made in 1988, was renovated by BKV as a historic vehicle: it now mirrors back the feeling of the 1990s and beginning of 2000s in the capital.

ZiU-9

The ZiU–9 (ЗиУ–9 in Russian) trolleybus was manufactured in the Soviet Union from the beginning of the 1970s onwards, and it became the most widespread type in Soviet cities and in the former “Eastern Bloc.” It was designed to replace its predecessor with a more modern body, at cheaper production costs, but still having electronics of the earlier ZiU–5 series. During the 1975–1982 period, BKV purchased 172 trolleybuses of this type offered at a low price in the framework of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) scheme that was in place among Communist states at the time. It is interesting to note that the vehicles bought in different years were slightly different owing to innovations introduced by the factory in the meantime. The trolleybuses were gradually phased out in the 2000s; the city said goodbye to the last ZiU on 31 December 2012 in festive fashion. The ZiU–9 trolleybus of the classic fleet with plate number 927 was made in 1980. The type was famous for being able to reach the allowed speed of 50 km/h extremely quickly therefore passengers were warned to take one of the 32 comfortable, well-cushioned seats as soon as possible.

Ganz UV tram

The GANZ Factory of Hungary created the era’s perfect city tram in 1956 by further developing the earlier tram type nicknamed “Stuka” (called thus as they were as loud as the German dive-bomber planes of the same name). The Capital’s Electric Railway company (FVV), which operated the Budapest tram network at the time, ordered 20 of the vehicles marked UV at the beginning of 1956. U denoted the type, while V stood for remotely controlled, as the two cars could be controlled from a single driver’s cabin. The first tram of the series featured two driver’s cabins, one of which was dismounted later on, and the vehicles were delivered with only one driver’s cabin thereafter. The UV was the most manufactured Hungarian tram type, which operated up until 2007 without any major renovation. It began to leave passenger service gradually after the TW6000 (Hannover type) and the Siemens Combino trams serving the Grand Boulevard started operating. In the last year of its operation, the UV ran only in Buda on line 47, but nowadays it is back in service illuminated as the “Christmas Tram” during the holiday season.

MUV tram

In 1933, the Budapest Transport Company (BKV) started the renovation of 20 pieces of UV3 type motorised tram cars by mounting the second driver’s cabin and adding heating, glitter floors, new seats and lighting with the help of fluorescent lamps, thus turning the trams into MUVs, that is Modernised UV trams. According to the original plan, these would have operated as twin-trams during the day on weekdays, but in the evenings and at weekends when travel demand was lower, they would have been single. At that time, BKV intended to operate several night tramlines. The 20 manufactured trams ran on route 17 between 1993 and 1996, then on lines 30 and 52 from 1996 until 2003. It is an interesting fact that originally, the trams were designed with two headlights, but during test runs, the idea was scrapped, as they did not seem to be attractive-looking that way. Only a low number of this unique tram type was produced and when their main exam was cancelled in 2013 due to lack of funds, a decision was made to dismantle them. Only one vehicle escaped demolition, which is now a member of the classic fleet following renovation.