| Metro Line M1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Overview | |||
| Status | Operational | ||
| Line number | Line 1 ("Yellow metro") | ||
| Termini | |||
| Stations | 11 | ||
| Service | |||
| Type | Rapid transit | ||
| System | Budapest Metro | ||
| Operator(s) | BKK | ||
| Rolling stock | Ganz MFAV | ||
| History | |||
| Opened | 2 May 1896 (1896-05-02) | ||
| Technical | |||
| Line length | 4.4 km | ||
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) | ||
| Electrification | 550 VDC | ||
| Operating speed | 60 km/h | ||
| Criteria | Cultural: (ii), (iv) | ||
| Designated | 2002 (as the extension of the site designated in 1987) | ||
| Part of | Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue | ||
| Reference no. | 400bis | ||
| UNESCO region | Europe | ||
| |||
Line 1 (Officially:Millennium Underground Railway,Metro 1 orM1) is the oldest line of theBudapest Metro, built from 1894 to 1896. It is known locally as "the small underground" ("a kisföldalatti"), while the M2, M3 and M4 are called "metró". It was the first electrified underground on the European mainland, and the world's second oldest electrified underground after theLondon Underground. It was finished by April 1896 and was inaugurated by the emperor of Austria-Hungary, Franz Joseph on 3 May 1896.[1]
Line 1 runs northeast from thecity center on thePest side underAndrássy út to theVárosliget, or City Park. LikeLine 3, it does not serveBuda. Its daily ridership is estimated at 80,000.[2]
Line 1 is the oldest of the metro lines inBudapest, having been in constant operation since 1896. The line was inaugurated on 2 May 1896, the year of the millennium (the thousandth anniversary ofthe arrival of the Magyars),[3] by emperorFranz Joseph. The original name of the operator company was "Franz Joseph Underground Electric Railway Company" ("Ferenc József Földalatti Villamos Vasút Rt.").
The original purpose of the first metro line was to facilitate transport to theVárosliget (City Park) along the elegantAndrássy Avenue without building surface transport affecting the streetscape. TheNational Assembly accepted the metro plan in 1870, and the local Hungarian subsidiary company of theSiemens & Halske AG was commissioned for the construction, starting in 1894. It took 2,000 workers using up-to-date machinery less than two years to complete. The underground part of this section was built entirely from the surface (with thecut-and-cover method).[4]
The line ran underneath Andrássy Avenue, fromGizella tér station (nowVörösmarty tér station) toAréna út station (nowHősök tere station). From there it followed an indirect surface alignment through the Városliget to a surface terminus atArtézi fürdő station (nowSzéchenyi fürdő station). It had eleven stations, nine underground and two on the surface section through the park. The length of the line was3.7 kilometres (2.3 mi) at that time; trains ran every two minutes. It was able to carry as many as 35,000 people a day (by contrast, today 103,000 people travel on it on a workday).
In the 1950s and in prepararation for the planned second line of the metro, the route of the line underDeák Ferenc square was diverted in order to ease the sharp curve that had been dictated by the original layout of the square. The diversion left an 80 metres (262 ft 6 in) long section of the original tunnel empty and walled off, a state it was left in for some twenty years.[5]
Between 1970 and 1973 the line underwent an extension and reconstruction of some sections. The most significant was the extension toMexikói út. This involved the closure of the surface alignment through the Városliget, including bothÁllatkert and Széchenyi fürdő surface stations. In its place a new underground alignment was adopted, passing below the Városliget and serving a new underground through station at Széchenyi fürdő. Állatkert station was not replaced.[6][7]
At the same timeDeák Ferenc tér station was rebuilt to connect with the M2 line, and the rolling stock was changed toGanz MFAVmultiple units, which still operate on the line, and the line’s left-hand traffic was changed into right-hand traffic. In line with the rebuilding of Deák Ferenc tér station, the section of tunnel abandoned some 20 years earlier was rebuilt to house theUnderground Railway Museum, with access from the new station concourse.[5][8]
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During the past hundred years, none of the renovations touched the tunnel section under Andrássy út. As a result, the infrastructure of the tunnel (the masonry, the load-bearing steel structures, the water insulation, the railway tracks, the architecture of the stations) has been mostly unchanged. From the middle of the 1980s, they started to show their age, and the serious damage and wear and tear prompted the necessity and urgency of a reconstruction. Renovation works took place during a planned closure between 15 and 18 September 1995.[citation needed]
As part of a new luxury development project at the Rákosrendező railway station, known as "Millenium City Center" or "Maxi-Dubai", the M1 line would be extended north from the current terminus atMexikói út to provide better transportation links to the new site. It would serve brand-new apartments, office buildings, commercial properties, and whatJános Lázár, Hungary's Minister of Construction and Investment, labeled "Budapest's largest and most modern public park." It would also include a renovation of the existing railway station as well as a new pedestrian & cycle path to make it easier to access the new development center.[9][10]
Due to the line’s small loading gauge, the line has used very small vehicles since its inception with low-floor passenger sections and high-floor cabs. The line has always been powered by overhead lines, possibly rigid. The voltage has variously been described as either 550 or 600 volts, but the exact voltage is unclear.
The line opened with 20 electrically powered motor cars built by the Hungarian subsidiary ofSiemens and Halske. Cars 1 to 10 were panelled in sheet metal, whilst cars 11 to 19 were wood panelled, and No. 20 was a special design “Emperor’s Car”. Because of the low headroom available in the line's tunnels, the cars had an extremely low profile, and the operator had to squeeze into a very tight cab. The cars had drop centres for the doors a single pocket door on each side, and the seats were above the trucks. The cars could reach a top speed of 17 miles per hour (27.4 km/h).[11]
As originally built, the motor cars ran singly. But in 1959 to 1960, 16 four-wheel control trailers were built to run with them and provide extra capacity.[citation needed]
The cars, both motor and trailer, were retired from normal service by 1973. One of the original wood panelled cars is maintained in working order and is occasionally used on special services. One of each of the metal and wood panelled cars, and one of the trailers, are exhibited in theUnderground Railway Museum [hu], itself fashioned from the originalDeák Ferenc tér station. Other cars have been preserved elsewhere, including one at theSeashore Trolley Museum atKennebunkport in the US state ofMaine.[8][11][12]
With the extension and reconstruction of the line in the 1970s, newGanz MFAV cars were built in Budapest byGanz Works to replace the original rolling stock. These cars are eight-axlearticulated vehicles. Each unit has 3 sections, each having 2 doors per side, with no internal connection between. The driver’s cabs are located above the end bogies and can only be entered from a small door on each side. The loading gauge constraints of the line meant that all electrical subsystems are fitted above the articulations, between the separate passenger compartments.
In total 23 cars were built, comprising two prototypes in 1971, 19 production cars in 1971 to 1973, and two further cars in 1987 although originally two more were to be purchased at this time. All are still in service.[citation needed]
  (Vörösmarty tér – Mexikói út) | ||||
| Travel Time minutes | Station | Travel Time minutes | Connection | Buildings / Monuments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Vörösmarty tér | 11 |  2, 2B, 23 15 | Vigadó,Café Gerbeaud, Ministry of Finance |
| 1 | Deák Ferenc tér | 10 |   47, 48, 49 72 9, 16,100E, 105, 178, 210, 210B, 216 | Town Hall, Metro Museum (Földalatti Vasúti Múzeum) |
| 2 | Bajcsy–Zsilinszky út | 9 | 72 9, 105, 210, 210B | St. Stephen's Basilica |
| 3 | Opera | 8 | 70, 78 105, 210, 210B | Hungarian State Opera House |
| 4 | Oktogon | 7 | 4, 6 105, 210, 210B | Theaters (Operette, Mikroszkóp, Miklós Radnóti,...) |
| 5 | Vörösmarty utca | 6 | 73, 76 105, 210, 210B | House of Terror |
| 6 | Kodály körönd | 5 | 105, 210, 210B | |
| 7 | Bajza utca | 4 | 105, 210, 210B | |
| 8 | Hősök tere | 3 | 72, 75, 79 20E, 30, 30A, 105, 210, 210B, 230 | Museum of Fine Arts,Műcsarnok (Hall of Exhibitions),Városliget (City Park),Hősök tere (Heroes square) |
| 9 | Széchenyi fürdő | 2 | 72 | Széchenyi thermal bath,Zoo and Botanical Garden |
| 11 | Mexikói út | 0 | 1, 1M, 3, 69 74, 74A, 82 25, 32, 225 | |
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