The world’s first children’s railway was opened in Moscow, in the Soviet Union, in 1932. This was followed by the opening of the children’s railway in 1935 in Tiflis (now Tbilisi, Georgia), and 15 more until the end of the Second World War.
After 1945, in the communist satellite countries, the construction of children’s railways began in the 1950s and 1960s, following the Soviet model.
In Hungary, a state decision was taken in 1947 to establish a children’s railway to be operated by the Hungarian State Railways (MÁV). Several locations were considered (e.g. Gödöllő, Margitsziget, Népliget), but finally the Buda Hills were chosen, since in the meantime a decision had been made to establish the Pioneer Republic (or Pioneer City) in Csillebérc, which could be accessed by the children’s railway.
The construction of the 760 mm gauge railway line started on 11 April 1948 and the first 3 km section between Széchenyihegy and Virágvölgy was inaugurated on 31 July 1948. The children’s railway was then called the Pioneer Railway and was operated by pioneers wearing railway uniforms and trained by MÁV instructors. Also on this day was the inauguration of the Pioneer Republic, which was built in July in a few weeks of hard work.
The line was extended in two stages in the following years. By June 1949, the single-track line was completed up to Szépjuhászné station (6.7 km), and by 20 August 1950 up to Hűvösvölgy station (11.2 km). In 1951, a rail yard and a three-track vehicle maintenance depot were built beyond the Hűvösvölgy terminal station. Since then, the engine shed and storage sidings at Széchenyihegy terminal have been used for daytime storage of vehicles and winter storage of summer wagons.
On the children’s railway line, a number of locomotives, motor coaches and passenger cars were operated, such as 490 series steam locomotives, MK48 and MK49 diesel locomotives, Bamot motor coaches. Since 1973, the traction has been provided by Mk45 (L45H) locomotives, but on special occasions older steam and diesel locomotives and passenger cars are also put into service.
The name of the Pioneer Railway was changed to the Children’s Railway in 1990 during the change of regime. The children’s railway reached its peak passenger numbers in 1961, when it had around 800,000 passengers. The lowest point came in the years after the regime change, with only 94,000 passengers in 1993. Since then, the figures have improved, with a stable annual passenger number of between 300 and 400 thousand.
The Budapest Children’s Railway is one of a kind. In 2015, it was listed in the Guinness World Records: with 11.7018 kilometres of track, it is the longest railway in the world where children are providing the traffic and commercial services.
