Schwabenbergbahn


		Connection to the tram line , planned extension to Széll Kálmán tér

		Városmajor kocsiszín
		Városmajor	130 m
		Szent János Kórház
		Orgonás
		Esze Tamás iskola
		Erdei iskola
		Adonis utca
		Városkút
		Svábhegy
		Művész út
		Széchenyi-hegy, Gyermekvasút	≈ 457 m
		planned extension of the route to Normafa
		Hegyhát úti általános iskola
		Olimpia Szálló
		Normafa

The Schwabenbergbahn ( ung. Fogaskerekű Vasút ) is a single-track, standard-gauge rack railway in Budapest , the capital of Hungary . It leads from the central Városmajor ( Stadt-Meierhof ), near the Széll Kálmán tér (1951–2011 Moszkva tér ) and the south station ( Déli pályaudvar ), to the 420-meter-high Swabian mountain ( Svábhegy ), with the final station Széchenyi hegy . At the end you can change to the twelve kilometer long Gyermekvasút children's railway , a former pioneer railway . The Schwabenbergbahn is integrated as line 60 in the line number system of the Budapest tram .

History, operation

The concession of the Schwabenbergbahn near Ofen was granted by the Royal Hungarian Ministry of Commerce to the International Society for Mountain Railways in Aarau on the basis of the Railway Concessions Act for a period of 40 years (with 15 years tax exemption).

Steam train, 1896

Memorial plaque from 1988 in favor of the technical builder, Francois Cathry Szaléz (who found his grave in Budapest in 1901)

Schwabenbergbahn in profile comparison with the Kahlenbergbahn, 1874

The construction of the railway (originally overcoming 260 meters in altitude) began under the direction of the Swiss engineer Francois Cathry Szaléz (1834–1901) in the summer of 1873. When it opened on June 24, 1874, the cog railway is the third oldest in the world. In terms of its technical equipment, it essentially corresponded to the Vienna Kahlenbergbahn . The standard-gauge track systems are fully equipped with Strub racks. Since there were no rack railway turnouts at the time of opening, transfer platforms were installed to change tracks . The locomotives were built by the Schweizerische Lokomotiv- und Maschinenfabrik in Winterthur, the wagons in the Hernals wagon factory in Vienna.

In May 1890 the route was extended to the Széchenyi hegy. On January 1, 1895, the stock corporation, which had been in liquidation since 1876, sold it to a Viennese company. This planned to introduce electrical operation and to extend the line from the districts of Budakész and Hidegkút to Zugliget (Auwinkel). First, however, winter operation was introduced in 1910 due to increased demand. The actual electrification with 550 volts DC did not take place until 1929. In September 1949, the rack railway became part of the city's transport company.

In 1973 the entire fleet was renewed. The seven double railcars still in use today were built by Simmering-Graz-Pauker (vehicle construction) and BBC Austria (electrical equipment). Since then, the train has been running on 1500 volts DC.

Axis with gear
Electric train in the final station of Széchenyi hegy, 1970
Double railcar 56–66 (2015)

literature

István Lovász, Lászlő Grőh: The Schwabenberg cog railway in Budapest and its vehicles. In: Railway Austria . Issue 9/2001, Minirex AG, Lucerne 2001, ISSN 1421-2900 , pp. 401-409.

Web links

Commons : Schwabenbergbahn - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Line 60 on bkk.hu (English, Budapest Transport Company)
Schwabenbergbahn . In: Brockhaus Konversations-Lexikon 1894–1896, Volume 14, p. 664.

Individual evidence

↑ Carl Maader: About lifts. Lecture given in the Austrian engineering and architecture association on April 11, 1874 . In: Wilhelm Tinter (Red.): Journal of the Austrian Association of Engineers and Architects . Issue 13, XXVI. Year (1874). Vienna 1874, ZDB -ID 2534647-7 , p. 216 f. - Full text online (PDF; 6.5 MB).

47.509405 19.012782Coordinates: 47 ° 30 ′ 33.9 ″ N , 19 ° 0 ′ 46 ″ E

[1] Carl Maader: About lifts. Lecture given in the Austrian engineering and architecture association on April 11, 1874 . In: Wilhelm Tinter (Red.): Journal of the Austrian Association of Engineers and Architects . Issue 13, XXVI. Year (1874). Vienna 1874, ZDB -ID 2534647-7 , p. 216 f. - Full text online (PDF; 6.5 MB).