Budapest Tram Railway Company

By the 1860s, the city of Pest had grown so large that the omnibus was no longer enough. This was recognised by Mór Jellinek, who moved to Pest from Vienna and became involved in the grain trade, and in 1865 he and his partners founded the Pest Road Railway Company, a company that built and operated horse-drawn railway lines. The business grew rapidly, providing a profitable service on its ever-expanding network, for which it also had a privilege.

The company expanded in Buda as well, as in 1878 it bought the not very successful Buda Road Railway Company, which operated on the Buda side but had only two lines, and after agreeing with the government to lay the railway tracks on Margaret Bridge, in 1879 it connected the two sides of the bridge, so that the horse-drawn railway operated on the bridge from 21 June 1879. The Margaret Bridge was widened to accommodate the horse-drawn tracks, so there was a question of how the company would pay the extra cost.

The introduction of the stage ticket in 1886, which in fact meant a significant reduction in fares, led to a significant increase in traffic. In 1886, when the fare was introduced, 11.3 million passengers were carried, while by 1896 this figure had risen to 26.4 million.

In the 1880s, changes to railway legislation (firstly, Article XXX of 1880) allowed the construction of local interest railways, i.e. cheaper, smaller-scale railways than conventional railways. As it was already common in Budapest at that time for people to move to the agglomeration along the railway lines, the BKVT saw a business case for building HÉV lines in the Budapest area, and started to build them in the 1880s. The company's management changed at this time, when Mór Jellinek died suddenly and was replaced by his son Henrik Jellinek.

The steam-powered Budapest-Soroksár-Haraszti, Budapest - Szentendre and Kerepes - Cinkota lines were built on the initiative and investment of BKVT. HÉV line. For the construction and maintenance of the local interest railways, BKVT established a subsidiary, Budapest Local Interest Railways Ltd. The company built a 53 km network in one and a half years, between 1887 and 1889.

The emergence of the Budapest Electric Municipal Railway was a major challenge for the company because it threatened its monopoly. The company very quickly recognised the new challenge and began negotiations with the capital itself to rebuild the network and extend the existing monopoly, which were concluded in 1895. As a result, the two companies, BVVV and BKVVT, operated side by side, with BKVT virtually rebuilding its network by 1898, the horse-drawn tramway replaced by the tram, and the last horse-drawn tramway carriage (except for Margaret Island) running on 7 June 1898.

In 1904, the Pallas Grand Dictionary wrote that "The company itself has at present 34 lines and the total length of track is 133,175 linear metres, of which 100,531 m. are overhead, 30,513 m. are underhead, 1,639 m. are overhead and underhead, and 492 m. are without electric wires. The traffic is carried by 330 motor coaches, 52 trailers, 50 goods wagons, snow sweepers and snow ploughs. For the development of electricity there are two generating stations, with 10 steam engines of 6,200 horse-power developing 5,236,000 volts of electricity. In addition to the two generating stations, there are five traffic depots with suitable carriage yards and other buildings, workshops and 31 waiting halls."

As the construction of a railway on the surface was not allowed on Andrássy road, it was decided to build a tramway under the road after lengthy negotiations, on the proposal of Mór Balázs. Although the idea came from Balázs, the railway was built and operated jointly by the two companies BKVVT and BVVV. The yellow carriages - the BVVV's colour - belonged to the Budapest Electric City Railway, the burgundy ones to the BKVT, but they had great difficulty in agreeing on the use of the tramway track on the Elisabeth Bridge, so it was not until 11 years after the bridge was built, in 1914, that tram services started on the bridge.

After a change in the shareholders in 1911, the majority of the shares were acquired by the entrepreneur Simon Krausz and his circle of interests, who first dismissed Jellinek, who would have left with a severance payment of 300,000 crowns and a pension. However, a review of the company's accounts revealed that Jellinek had previously entered into agreements whereby he was entitled to a 5% share of all company investments, which over the years had generated an income of SEK 2 250 000 for the CEO. On this basis, Henrik Jellinek, who had headed the company since 1883, was removed from the BKVT without pension and severance pay. After the First World War, on 22 November 1918, the Károlyi government merged the Budapest transport companies, including BKVT, into one company, and in 1922 the Budapest Metropolitan Transport Company, or BSZKRT, was established.

Interesting fact:

There are several engravings on the wall of the ELTE BTK building at 4 Múzeum körút, which probably originated from a traffic controller named Gy. Adorján who was on duty there in 1909, as the company's name and logo (and the creator's silhouette) are clearly visible.

Points of interest

By the 1880s, tensions between the BKVT and the capital were caused by the fact that the horse railway company, relying on its long-term monopoly, did not really take into account where it would build lines important for the development of the capital, preferring to develop only in areas where it hoped to make a quick return. However, the licence was only for horse-drawn traction, and it was this 'loophole' that Mór Balázs exploited, first with a steam-drawn urban railway, then with an electric one. The Budapest authorities were very supportive of the idea, as they saw it as a way of breaking the monopoly of the BKVT.

The rivalry between BKVVT and BVVV-Budapest interest groups has also appeared in places such as the running of the HÉV trains into the city centre. Henrik Jellinek's proposal in 1898 would have seen the construction of a HÉV line running alongside or above Hungária körút, and reaching the inner parts of the city. The government supported the line, but the capital opposed it because it would have competed with trams.

Although there were already tram tracks on Elisabeth Bridge in 1903, the two tram companies simply could not agree on how each company would use the bridge, so there was no tram service on the bridge until 1914. This dispute was finally settled when, due to the closure of the Chain Bridge, both the capital and the government urged the companies to reach an agreement, and in 1914, after lengthy negotiations, they finally reached an agreement, with the BKVVT owning the line but the BVVV having the right of use.

Sources

• A century and a half of public transport in the capital Volume I
• Mihály Tóth:The Glory and Fall of the Great Jellinek A panamista, Budapest, 1971/9
• Gábor Zsigmond: I apologize, It happened by chance, Budapest, 2014/12 issue
• The horse-drawn railway and the rubber-wheeled tram, Magyar Hírlap 1933 November 5

Date of foundation: 1865

Date of cessation: 1923

Founders: Mór Jellinek, Sándor Károlyi, Ernő Hollán

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Author: by Domonkos Csaba